


A Dragon in Shining Armour

by Grovyle48



Series: The Royal Knight Chronicles [1]
Category: Digimon - All Media Types
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Original, Digimon-only, Drama, Gen, Original Universe, digimon - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-12
Updated: 2017-01-16
Packaged: 2018-09-17 01:23:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 21,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9297983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Grovyle48/pseuds/Grovyle48
Summary: Examon becomes the eleventh Digimon to be accepted into the Order of the Royal Knights. However, his personality and the fact that he is a dragon causes some friction with some of the other knights. Despite this, fitting in won't be the only problem he'll have to deal with as he struggles to find his footing along an order of famous, respected warriors. Evil Digimon threaten both the stability of the Digital World and the Order itself. If that wasn't enough, the Royal Knights themselves clash over their differences. Can they overcome to odds to protect the stability of the Digital World and the Digimon who inhabit it?





	1. Prologue: Alpha

** A Dragon in Shining Armour **

 

Author's Notes: Welcome, all, to the long journey that is A Dragon in Shining Armour and its sequel, Holy War. Important note: A Dragon in Shining Armour is currently completed on my page on fanfiction.net, and I'm halfway through posting the sequel, Holy War, there as well. However, for anybody who would rather read it here and is daunted by the amount of chapters there are on fanfiction.net, I will be posting it here gradually. I am currently rewriting the chapters of A Dragon in Shining Armour, so if you notice a slight, downward shift in quality, that'll be why.  If you're reading this for the first time, I hope you enjoy yourself and have a good time reading my stories. I love feedback from readers, as I love to know how I could improve, and I also enjoy engaging with fans of my stories, so feel free to speak up. A big thanks to everybody who reads and sticks with me and my stories. I hope you have as much fun reading them as I have writing them. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the my stories about the Royal Knights.

 

Rated M for violence, language, mature themes, and some sexual situations and innuendo.

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon, but I do own this original universe and these characters and their stories.

 

Link to A Dragon in Shining Armour on ff.net: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7922349/1/A-Dragon-in-Shining-Armour

Link to the sequel, Holy War, on ff.net: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10931005/1/Holy-War

 

**Prologue: Alpha**

 

Darkness loomed over the continent of Eniac.

 

It was late at night; this was clear from the hundreds of tiny lights that sparkled in the black sky above. These stars gradually circled around the Digital World, acting as distant beacons that promised light in spite of the forbidding abyss. Two moons rested in opposite ends of the sky. The smaller one was a crescent, while the larger moon was full. The pair of satellites reflected dim, ivory light from the hidden sun.

 

Rays from the moons shone down on the stone parapets of a gigantic castle. The castle was a stone fortress which stood many stories tall. It was surrounded by a dense, imposing, impenetrable wall of smooth rock, carefully constructed to form the shape of a long octagon. By far the tallest and most expansive structure was the main building, which stood at roughly forty meters high. Within the confines of the walls were several smaller buildings as well.

 

The castle stood in the middle of an ocean of lush, green grassland. Wind swept through the clumps of long grass, creating waves of wind that could be seen from the fortress’ immaculate ramparts. There were eight tall, cylindrical guard towers at each corner of the castle wall. The towers were topped with open, flat, walled roofs for sentries to keep guard from, giving them a fortuitous vantage point. Slightly taller than these were three free-standing watch towers that formed a triangle around the main citadel of the castle, with two towers at the front and one at the back.

 

A black figure stood on the ramparts of the castle wall, staring down at the moat surrounding the castle wall.  One of the Digital World’s moons was reflected in the serene water below. He watched as the moon was distorted by the ripples created from the gentle wind.

 

The figure in question was a humanoid Digimon who was clad in dark, greyish-black armour from head to toe. This intricate, ebony plate armour covered the whole of his clearly muscular body. Massive pauldrons covered his broad shoulders, and his breastplate protruded outwards, giving him an imposing appearance. The knight Digimon wore a large helmet that had long, pointed, ear-like features. On his forehead, in the dead center of the helmet, was a large, flawless, ruby-like gem. The hue of the jewel matched the two large crystals, one of which was embedded in his chest, underneath a slab of metal from his armour, and the other was in his lower torso, just above his groin. The moons’ light caused the armour to shimmer, its gems to sparkle, and its ornate gold trimming that lined the edges of the armour to glisten.

 

Two broad, metal, wing-like features extended majestically from his back, complete with short, golden, metal feathers that protruded from the underside of the wings. Between the pair of strong wings was a white cape with a deep, royal blue underside. The night breeze caused the white and blue cape to flow and ripple in the wind. It gave him a bold, gallant appearance as he stood atop the tall castle wall, gazing over the edge. The soft, golden eyes behind his helmet were deep in thought about the situation at hand. Despite the tranquil gold of his irises, there were specks of red underneath them that seemed capable of emerging and overtaking the gold. There was a faint sparkle of moonlight in his eyes as they stared down at the reflected moon in the moat. They gazed down thoughtfully until the sound of movement behind him got his attention.

 

“So, this is where you went,” a voice said from behind him. The voice was light and soft – warm and approachable. It sounded as if two Digimon were speaking in unison. The fused nature of the voice gave it a dual echo that made it seem a bit otherworldly. “Alphamon.”

 

The Digimon in question, Alphamon, turned around to see another knight directly behind him, walking over to the castle wall from a stone bridge to the main building.

 

The speaker was a humanoid knight Digimon, like himself. However, instead of black plate armour, he was adorned with white metal. He had a broad upper body with far apart shoulders. The left shoulder was orange in colour, and it donned a small, shoulder-mounted shield with the sun-shaped Crest of Courage engraved in the gold metal. It was known as the Brave Shield Omega. His right shoulder contained armour that was a contrasting blue colour, and, instead of a shield, the armour was lined with three spikes. In stark difference to these broad shoulders and pectoral muscles, the knight had a skinny waist that gave him an hourglass figure. The rest of his body was lithe as well. He had thin hips and long, slender legs, which were covered with pristine white armour from waist to foot. The armour matched the breastplate that covered his pectorals. The breastplate was designed with blue streaks that went inwards towards the center of his chest. Just below them, in the metal over his ribs, was an asymmetrical symbol that was a combination of the Crest of Courage and the Crest of Friendship.

 

This asymmetry was reflected in the slender Digimon’s body. His left forearm was covered in a large, orange gauntlet in the shape of a horned Greymon head.  Although it was currently sheathed, the Grey Arm was capable of opening up and extending a massive blade from its mouth. The right arm opposite it was a deep blue colour that was in the shape of a lupine Garurumon head. In contrast, the Garuru Arm could also open and extend a large cannon from its metallic mouth. This Digimon, therefore, had components of both the Greymon species and the Garurumon species.

 

His lithe body, particularly at his waist and arms, was garbed in a black, leathery fabric. It was a body suit that he wore under his armour to cover his form. Like Alphamon, he had a long, flowing, white cape, except the interior was a striking crimson instead of blue. It rippled behind his dashing, athletic body as he crossed the bridge onto the parapets. Behind his white helmet were light, greenish blue eyes that gazed at the black knight before him.

 

“Omegamon...” Alphamon spoke, his voice deeper than the fused tenor of his close friend. He eyed his second-in-command curiously. “You’re up late.”

 

“As are you,” Omegamon responded, walking up to his side and looking out over the wall. “You seem like you have a lot on your mind. Are you still thinking about it?”

 

“No... I think I have made my choice,” the black knight responded. “It’s a... somewhat unorthodox one. Some of the others may be uncomfortable with it. He’s not a traditional option for a new Royal Knight.”

 

“Whatever it is, I’m sure they will accept your choice eventually,” the white knight spoke, looking over at him with his reassuring blue eyes. “We all trust your judgement, Lord of the Empty Seat. Me especially.”

 

Alphamon smiled slightly, betraying his scepticism. “You say that now...”

 

“They got used to Sleipmon, didn’t they?” Omegamon asked, putting a hand on Alphamon’s shoulder. “It isn’t about what’s on the surface.”

 

“I suppose you’re right.” Alphamon turned to him, returning the stare. He stared at his white counterpart with resolve. “I’m satisfied with my choice, even if some of the others may not be. I fear that we will need his exceptional abilities in the future.”

 

Omegamon gazed at Alphamon pensively. “Do you think that the cloud of evil is emerging once again, Alphamon?”

 

Alphamon looked out across the darkened landscape, as if gazing into the distant abyss. He closed his golden eyes, and a red gleam overtook the gold of his irises right as his eyelids shut. His instincts made him feel uneasy. Something wasn’t right in the Digital World. He could feel it.

 

“…Isn’t it always, Omegamon?”


	2. Chapter 1: The Invitation

**Chapter 1: The Invitation**

 

A light gust of wind swept across a wide, grassy field of the Digital World below. The breeze sent a soft wave through the blades of grass, causing them to ripple tranquilly.

 

The sky was cast in a beautiful, azure blue that was as pure as a lake on a calm day. Small, puffy clouds drifted lazily across the sky. Beyond the distant stratosphere was a blazing, solar orb that scattered warm rays across the Digital World. The sun radiated golden rays as it circumrotated around the world. The sunlight hit the small clouds as they floated through the sky, causing them to cast motile shadows across the grassy landscape.

 

Also drifting in the sky were translucent, rectangular packets of random data. These sorts of otherworldly abnormalities were commonplace in this world.

 

This was the Digital World.

 

This was a world that defied basic laws of science, but it also had its own internal logic to it. On the other hand, there were occurrences that simply could not be explained. It combined the mundane, the rationally, the irrational, and the extraordinary. The Digital World was filled with all sorts of different lands and terrains. There were thick forests, frigid tundra, arid deserts, and beautiful mountains. There were two main continents in the Digital World: the western continent of Eniac, which was the current location, and the eastern continent of Colossus, which lay across the vast Net Ocean.

 

Only Digimon, which were sentient, digital creatures of all shapes and sizes, lived in this world. Digimon, as well as everything within the world, were made up of data. Data was the building blocks of everything, both living and inanimate. The species of Digimon varied widely, ranging from small fish to medium-sized mammals to large dragons and everything in-between. They were creatures with amazing abilities, and they were capable of evolving to higher levels. Some lived in societies while others roamed the land. The circumstances differed across the Digital World. Generally speaking, the world usually tended to be peaceful; most Digimon weren’t out looking for a fight.

 

However... some were.

 

In the cyan sky, a bipedal dragon man hovered high above the clouds. He was covered from head to toe with crimson scales that contrasted starkly to the soft blue behind him. Although he was largely a dragon, he had some humanoid proportions. He had a toned body with firm, well-developed muscles. His humanoid, crimson arms had trim musculature, and they ended with a set of three-fingered claws on each hand. These arms led up to a pair of shoulders that connected the limbs to his body. Several, bony spikes protruded from his shoulders, giving the dragon a fearsome appearance. Also adding to his intimidating look was his draconic face. He had a reptilian snout and rows of jagged teeth within his mouth. A large nose horn protruded from the end of his snout, and a pair of long, straight horns extended from the back of his head, just above a set of three smaller spikes on each side of the back of his skull.

 

His broad shoulders connected to his muscular, ruby chest, which boasted a sleek, robust build and a white underbelly. Chrome Digizoid armour – the toughest alloy in the Digital World – covered the middle of his body, somehow staying attached to him despite the lack of straps or fasteners. The armour covered his thick, scaled neck, the middle of his chest, and the entirely of his abdomen. The Chrome Digizoid also covered the backs of his massive, kite-like wings, causing the bright sunlight to reflect off the smooth, durable, and flexible metal. The dragon had a gigantic wingspan and huge, muscular wings that he gently beat against the air to keep himself aloft. These chrome digizoid wings were known as Caledfwlch, and they were sentient and semi-autonomous. Without the dragon Digimon even needing to think, the Caledfwlch could either fly for him or use themselves as a shield to protect their owner. In addition to these massive wings, a pair of leathery, fixed wings also protruded from his forearms. They spanned from his wrists up to his biceps, and they didn’t have any mobility, but their presence allowed the dragon maximum control during flight.

 

The dragon Digimon had a pair of thick, muscular legs that hung freely as he flew in the air. While his arms were humanoid, his legs were not; they were large and bent at the knees. He also had a pair of large, draconic feet with three sharp, toe claws on each foot. Finally, he had an incredibly long tail that stretched for several dozen meters in length. The underside of his tail had the same white scales that his chest had. The tail was thick as his tree trunk-like legs at its base, but gradually narrowed off to the width of a slim rope at its tip.

 

The drake’s body was adorned with ornate decorations. Ornamental golden spikes hung from the tips of both his dorsal wings and his arm wings. A similar spike, surrounded by a gold ring at its base, garnished the tip of his long, skinny tail. In addition to these, the tips of the three horns on his head were coated with golden metal and adorned with crimson gems. The spiked, Chrome Digizoid alulae of his Caledfwlch wings were also covered in the same gold and rub decorations. These golden decorations shimmered in the bright sunlight and gave the dragon a truly regal appearance.

 

His name was Examon and he was the defender of the United Dramonic Coalition.

 

From his vantage point in the sky, he looked down the length of the lance in his claws. The pole weapon, known as the Ambrosius, was a massive jousting lance that doubled as a long ranged rifle. It was massive in size – longer than Examon’s own body (apart from his tail). It had a long, black, conical shape with a hilt leading out from a hollow part at the crimson base of the weapon. The very tip of the weapon has two, long, points designed for stabbing, and between the tips was a muzzle from which lasers and munitions could be fired. The Ambrosius lance had a large, rectangular, top-loading magazine that fed munitions’ shells into the chamber of the weapon.

 

Examon floated high in the sky, his body concealed by the drifting clouds below. His stoic, emerald eyes gazed down the length of the Ambrosius lance, barely moving as he took calm, shallow breaths.

 

In that moment, Examon wasn’t just admiring the view. There were five Digimon in the process of invading the United Dramonic Coalition’s territory, and he had already determined that they weren’t just there for a friendly visit. It wasn’t the first time this place had been attacked by bandits or invaders, after all...

 

Examon watched as a twenty foot, orange, dinosaur known as MetalGreymon stomped across the plain of grass. His weighty body caused his heavy footsteps to send small tremors through the ground as he walked. The species of MetalGreymon were that of cyborg theropods; this was clear by the large, metal claw that made up his left arm, and the large missile port on his chest. The hulking dinosaur stomped forwards at a steady pace. The orange hair sticking out of his steel helmet blew in the gently breeze, and his blue eyes gazed keenly at the village in the distance.

 

“Come on, guys!” the MetalGreymon shouted, looking over his metal shoulder, to the four Digimon behind him. They were all cyberbiotic Digimon like MetalGreymon.

 

“On my way!” said a rust-orange dragon known as a Megadramon. He had a long, slender body and two cannons for hands. He flapped his battle-torn violet wings as he flew several dozen meters off the ground. Rather than legs, he had a long tail that acted as a rudder to help his flight.

 

Beside him was a slightly more refined variation of Megadramon, known as Gigadramon. He had the same serpentine body as Megadramon, the same helmet over his draconic head, and the same cannons. The main difference was his greyish-violet colour scheme and his high-tech, metal wings. “Understood,” Gigadramon replied, flying forwards.

 

Walking under the two dragons was another ferocious robotic dinosaur Digimon known as MetalTyrannomon. This was a white tyrannosaurus Digimon similar to MetalGreymon. He was a patchwork of metal and wires. His entire lower jaw was covered in metal, and his claws were outfitted with cannons in their palms.  The MetalTyrannomon nodded and followed after MetalGreymon.

 

Lastly, there was a crimson dragon who looked very much like a dinosaur. His upper body was covered with chrome digizoid metal, complete with chest cannons. His long arms boasted long, bladed gauntlets that reached to his biceps. A pair of vernier thrusters extended from the dragon’s back. His pair of muscular legs stomped as he followed the group of bandits, his thick tail swaying behind him. The MegaloGrowmon nodded. “Got it, Boss!” he said to MetalGreymon.

 

Ahead of them was a small village comprised of about thirty huts and houses varying between one and two stories. The buildings were mostly made of wood, although there were several that were made of stone and mortar. That village was their destination – their prey.

 

“Let’s take everything they got! Leave no stone unturned! There’s gotta be a treasury in there somewhere! You know what dragons are like about hoarding!” the MetalGreymon rumbled, his fearsome teeth showing as he grinned savagely. The metal cover concealing the missile ports on his chest suddenly swung open, revealing two, large cannon holes underneath. “Giga Destroyer!”

 

Two black missiles with snarling, toothy mouths launched from MetalGreymon’s breast in an eruption of exhaust. The giant, organic missiles soared through the air towards the village with a high-pitched screaming sound.

 

The local dragon Digimon (‘Dramon’, as they are colloquially called) of the village saw these five bandits attacking. The Dramon either began to flee for their lives or put themselves between the raiders and the village to defend it. Screams and cries of the Digimon sounded out as they saw both the missiles and the raiders charging towards their village. Many scrambled to get away as they couldn’t hope to face up to five strong Perfect level Digimon. Others, however, determined to protect their village at all costs, ran out to defend.

 

“Not _more_ raiders!” a Fladramon villager shouted frantically, running out of his large hut to defend the town. The slender, blue dragon man, clad in flame-coloured armour, dashed down the main road of the village towards the town’s outskirts.

 

The green, draconic form of a Coredramon ran up beside him, with emerald flames coming from his mouth. “They’re Perfects this time! I sure hope that we can hold them off until- AH! Look out!” he yelled, pointing with fear towards the two gigantic missiles headed their way.

 

As the two missiles closed in, whistling as they approached, the two Digimon could only raise their arms over their faces to protect themselves from the explosions that were soon to come. Being mere Adult levels, they knew that they might not survive the blasts.

 

“Pendragon’s Glory!” a calm voice rung out from the sky, echoing down to the ground.

 

A high-powered laser plummeted down from the inside of a cloud and blasted clear through the two giant missiles. Fladramon and Coredramon watched as the explosives detonated in mid air before they could get close to the village. The explosions tore up the grass beneath them, sending smoke and flames swelling outwards. The shockwave blew the two Digimon backwards and rattled a few of the village’s structures, but they were all spared injury and damage.

 

MetalGreymon’s eye twitched with disbelief at this unexpected misfortune. “What the heck?!” he demanded, looking upwards at the cloud.

 

The Megadramon raider looked up as well, his cannons raised. “I think i--!“ His voice was cut off when a thin, emerald laser pierced through the top of his helmet and emerged out of his chin. The Megadramon was killed him instantly, causing his body’s structural integrity to fracture and his form to burst into hundreds of thousands of data particles.

 

“No!” the Gigadramon beside him shouted, horrified at his comrade’s sudden deletion.

 

“Megadramon!” MetalGreymon yelled, furious that one of his bandits had been killed.

 

“Pendragon’s Glory!” the voice repeated.

 

Another high-powered laser blasted down and ripped through the Gigadramon’s chest, annihilating his digicore – vital processing organ that all Digimon possessed. The Gigadramon slumped forwards in the air with a winded gasp. His arms and tail went slack and he mindlessly fired two missiles from the cannons that made up his hands, shooting the bombs aimlessly downwards as his body broke apart into data.

 

The MetalGreymon leader gritted his teeth as the Gigadramon’s deletion was accentuated by the two explosions that erupted in the grass below the data cloud. “Damn it!” he roared, drowning out the voice of their assailant as it spoke again. He looked to the remaining two bandits, pointing his giant metal claw towards the cloud where the laser beams fired from. “MetalTyrannomon! MegaloGrowmon! Fire at that cloud! Kill whoever’s in it!”

 

“R-Right,” the MetalTyrannomon agreed, though noticeably shaken at two of his comrades being taken down so easily. “Nuclear Laser!”

 

While preparing two more missiles to fire, MetalGreymon watched as MetalTyrannomon raised his left arm. MetalTyrannomon fired strong blasts of dark blue energy from the cannon in his palm. He shot the blasts into the thick of the cloud, despite not knowing who he was aiming at. However, MetalGreymon noticed that his other bandit, MegaloGrowmon, wasn’t attacking.

 

“MegaloGrowmon! Is your hair in your ears again?! I said to fire!” MetalGreymon yelled, turning to him. He noticed that the MegaloGrowmon was looking down at a sparking hole that was made in his upper body armour, just around the cannons.

 

“M-MetalGreymon,” he stammered, looking down at the puncture with obvious worry. “Boss, there’s something wrong. I got hit; this weird shell thing… went into my armour… and I can feel it doing som- AH!”

 

The virus-carrying shell that had pierced inside his machinery activated abruptly. MegaloGrowmon let out a cry of pain as electricity suddenly surged through his body. The metal parts of the cyborg’s body served to conduct the shock further. He reared his head back with a roar before the electrocution became too much for his body. His muscles seized up and his legs buckled. The large dinosaur crashed down on his chest and hit the ground in a heap. He lay there unconscious, though his leg and tail still twitched from the static shooting through his muscles.

 

MetalGreymon watched with disbelief as another of his raiders was taken out no more than fifteen seconds after the last one. “That’s it!” he roared, the ports on his chest smoking. “Blow him out of the sky, MetalTyrannomon! Giga Destroyer!”

 

“What does it look like I’m doing?!” MetalTyrannomon replied frantically. He shot his Nuclear Laser attack wildly at the cloud high above them. “How is it hitting us so accurately from so far away?!”

 

“Just keep suppressing and I’ll blow him away! Giga Destroyer!” MetalGreymon replied, arching his body back and sending two missiles shooting out of his chest. The missiles flew at high speeds towards the single cloud over head.

 

Several seconds later, the low-hanging cloud exploded and the white mist was blown outwards in a fiery, wispy bloom.

 

“...Think you got him?” MetalTyrannomon asked, squinting his eyes. “Maybe there was more than one. I can’t see...”

 

“Damn well better have,” the dinosaur bandit spat.

 

The grey dinosaur, however, wasn’t convinced. He kept watching the sky until his eyes finally widened. “I see something!” he shouted, raising his cannon-infused hands in the thing’s direction.

 

MetalGreymon growled and looked up, his blue eyes scanning the sky. He saw it too. It was dot falling away from the explosion like a comet. It seemed to be in freefall. This caused the bandit to grin. “Hah! I told you I’d get him!” he bellowed triumphantly.

 

MetalTyrannomon kept watching it as it came closer. “...It’s falling this way! I-It’s red! It’s moving three times faster than either Megadramon or Gigadramon could!” he announced, unable to help but recoil.

 

MetalGreymon’s smirk disappeared when the sobering reality became all too apparent. It was clear that their opponent wasn’t falling, but diving towards them on his own free will. He started to back up with fear as Examon plummeted towards them, coming nearer and nearer. He could start to make out the creature’s body. It was a crimson dragon man. His massive wings were cloaked around his body, reducing the wind resistance against him as he plummeted. The Chrome Digizoid armour glowed red hot as the friction of the atmosphere burned against his durable body. With his wings tucked in, it was clear he was freefalling on purpose.

 

“Draconic Impact!” the dragon Digimon shouted, plummeting towards them like a determined meteor.

 

MetalGreymon’s eyes widened and he backed up further as the enemy approached at high velocity. “He’s going to ram us! Shoot him!”

 

“Nuclear Laser!” MetalTyrannomon roared, wide-eyed as the Digimon rapidly approached. The lasers hit the dragon’s folded wings but they glanced off due to the Digimon’s speed. Upon seeing his attacks do nothing, MetalTyrannomon’s fear took over and he turned around and tried to run away.

 

“Boss!” the dinosaur bandit desperately yelled as he futilely tried to run away from the plummeting dragon. The large dragon Digimon slammed into him, crushing him into the ground with enough force to delete MetalTyrannomon instantly. As the bandit was crushed into data, the mighty crash sent out a powerful shockwave out from the point of impact. The blast caused dirt and grass to explode into the air all throughout the massive blast radius. The detonation created a miniature mushroom cloud and the blast that swept outwards was enough to knock the heavy MetalGreymon onto his tail.

 

Wincing, the remaining dinosaur raider quickly pulled himself to his feet. He saw before him a large cloud of dust coming from a crater.

 

“Wh...Who are you?!” MetalGreymon demanded, trying not to let his fear show.

 

The dragon Digimon walked up and out of the crater, his broad wings outstretched and revealed the long, black lance in his right claws. He stared at the bandit with calm, green eyes and took aim with the Ambrosius. “My name is Examon. They call me the Dragon Emperor… I’m the defender of the United Dramonic Coalition.” he explained, his voice a cool, composed growl. “Leave now and you’ll live...”

 

The dinosaur brigand, however, refused to back down. He dug his clawed feet into the grass and glared. Examon returned the leer, not moving either. The two found themselves in a standoff.

 

 “You’re just a puny salamander!” MetalGreymon growled, looking down at the dragon who wasn’t quite as large as his giant, saurian body. “Not even you can withstand this! Giga Destroyer!”

 

Smoke exploded from the cannon ports and two gigantic missiles screeched as they ejected from the ports and flew through the air towards Examon. Examon calmly watched as they approached. Before they could hit him, he managed to quickly cloak the armoured wings called ‘Caledfwlch’ around himself like a full body shield.

 

MetalGreymon watched as the two missiles exploded on contact with Examon; they detonated into a massive fireball which incinerated the surrounding grass and tore up the surrounding earth. A small grin formed on his face; he was absolutely positive that he hit his target.

 

“Did I kill him?” he asked gleefully while the heat and wind from the explosion blew his red hair back.

 

The cyborg dinosaur stared into the black smoke and raging flames, looking for signs of life. When he didn’t see anything in the miniature mushroom cloud, he sighed with relief. “Good... The flying newt’s toast...”

 

He was about to turn around, but saw the sun reflect off of something within the thick haze of smoke. His eyes widened with fear and he looked towards the where the center of the explosion was.

 

“No...” he gasped.

 

The wind blew the smoke back, first, to reveal the tip of a metal lance pointed at him. He followed the length of the lance with his eyes. It led back to inside its owner, who was hidden inside the protective tent created by his sentient, chrome digizoid wings.

 

Although Examon’s wings smoked, there was very little that could penetrate chrome digizoid apart from chrome digizoid and the strongest of attacks. MetalGreymon watched as Examon slowly opened his wings, revealing himself to be completely unharmed.

 

“Not possible,” MetalGreymon gasped, his eyes wide.

 

“I am a second stage Ultimate level Digimon. As a Perfect level, you’re outclassed,” Examon spoke matter-of-factly. He narrowed his green eyes slightly while raising his Ambrosius lance a few degrees, aiming it precislely. “Avalon’s Gate!”

 

A shell exploded from the muzzle of the Ambrosius and shot towards MetalGreymon. Before he could react, it detonated on contact with MetalGreymon’s neck and the remaining shards dug into his orange scales. The raider winced slightly with pain and took a step back, but remained standing. Expecting to be killed by the attack, MetalGreymon was initially surprised, but it soon turned to joy. “Hah! You may have good range and defense, but your offense s-ugh!” The MetalGreymon’s body suddenly tensed up and his muscles contracted suddenly.

 

“Wh... What…?!” he demanded, his knees buckling and causing his legs to give way. “Wha’s gu’in’ on…?!” he demanded, his voice slurring and his face began to grow numb. He lurched forwards - his head, arms, and tail drooped and his tongue hung limply out of his mouth.

 

“I often use special ammunition. That particular shell’s is infected with a virus meant to incapacitate you by affecting your muscles,” Examon explained coolly. The crimson dragon man raised his lance and rested it on his spiked shoulder. “Your body will be temporarily paralysed and you will be unconscious in a few moments.”

 

The MetalGreymon gave an incoherent sentence of protest that only served to cause saliva to dribble out of his mouth. The sedative kicked in and his eyes slowly closed. He fell forwards and hit the grassy plain with a heavy crash. His large, cyborg body lay there, unmoving.

 

After a few moments, Examon raised his lance and rested it against his spiked shoulder. This prompted cheers to resound from the nearby village. Examon raised an eyebrow and turned. He saw the various guards from the village cheering his defeat of the bandits. The dragon Digimon watched as multiple Digimon ran over to him.

 

“Examon!” Fladramon shouted graciously, jogging up to him.

 

“You made it just in time!” Coredramon said, his beaming face mimicked by the several other Dramon behind him. “Thank you so much!”

 

Examon nodded and looked over to the MegaloGrowmon and MetalGreymon. “I left two of them alive... but I don’t feel right about deleting them while they’re unconscious.”

 

“We could probably take them to the jail in the UDC’s capital, Dragon’s Peak,” Coredramon explained. He looked up at the dragon warrior with starry eyes, obviously impressed by his combat skills.. “You made it seem so easy.”

 

“They probably haven’t seen an Examon before,” Examon humbly replied in a calm voice. “They underestimated me because they didn’t know I’m a second stage Ultimate level. If they had been five Ultimate levels, it wouldn’t have been so easy.”

 

Fladramon smiled and nodded. “Still, you sure saved our-!” His eyes widened upon seeing something behind Examon. “B-Behind, you, Examon!”

 

Examon gritted his teeth and started to turn, his grip around the Ambrosius’ trigger tightening. He was sure that the two raiders had been knocked out for a good hour. Was there another that he missed?

 

The dragon turned completely and aimed the lance on reflex upon seeing a figure walking across the grassland towards them.

 

At first glance, he noticed that the Digimon was much shorter than the previous raiders; he was about a head-and-shoulders shorter than Examon’s size, although Examon was quite a tall Digimon, standing at over eleven feet. The unknown Digimon had a humanoid body, showing that he was tall for humanoid standards. The Digimon was clad from head to toe in pristine, white plate armour that glimmered in the sunlight. Examon could tell by looking at it that it was chrome digizoid. The armour was decorated with shimmering, crimson metal that was lined with gold trimming. These ornate pieces of armour made up his shoulder spaulders, his elbow guards, his knee guards, and his boots.

 

Examon noted that he appeared strong and athletic, judging by his broad shoulders and the brawny pectoral muscles beneath his thick chest armour. He had a triangular chest with a skinny but well-developed waist. His waist was wrapped in two, large, crimson belts that covered the space between his breastplate and his triangular groin armour. The humanoid knight Digimon also had a pair of lean, athletic legs that were covered in the same chrome digizoid armour. Examon’s keen, sniper eyes could make out three curious symbols on the Digimon’s knee guards and on the center of his chest armour. They to be four triangles: one large triangle in the center with the tip pointing upwards, and three smaller triangles whose vertices were connected to the vertices of the larger triangle. A circle surrounded the main triangle, passing through the three connection points that touched the tips of the smaller auxiliary triangles. It wasn’t Digimoji, so the symbol piqued his interest.

 

However, Examon was more concerned about whether the Digimon was friend or foe. He continued scanning the Digimon with his eyes, gazing at his face to try and see his intentions. The knight wore a full helmet over his head, completely covering it. There was a metal visor with several vertical slits covering his face, concealing it from view. Above his brow was am ornate, crimson, metal crest with golden eyes, a few fangs, and large, dragon-like ears branching off from the sides. In the center of the draconic decoration was another black symbol with three upwards-pointing triangles that were connected to the sides of a larger, downwards-pointing triangle. Examon looked between the helmet crest and the visor to see a pair of golden eyes gazing at him. Examon had no idea why, but he felt disarmed by the Digimon’s gaze. There was a warm feeling to the Digimon’s gold eyes that made him feel comfortable for some reason.

 

The wind blew across the field and caused the lengthy strands of a long, ankle length, free-flowing ponytail of white hair to flow in the breeze. The knight’s hair flowed out from a triangular point at the top of his helmet near the back of his head. That same breeze caused his long, crimson cape to bluster in the wind. His large, red cape hung from the back of his armour, rippling as he walked. It gave him a bold, gallant, commanding presence.

 

The dragon Digimon’s eyes were drawn to the long, conical lance in the Digimon’s right hand. The jousting lance was as long as the knight’s body, and it rivaled Examon’s own Ambrosius. The base of the lance was surrounded by a convex hood, similar to Examon’s, allowing the Digimon to hold the lance from the inside. The shaft of the lance was a silver-white, ending with a sharp, dangerous tip, while the rim of the lance was crimson with gold trimming, matching the other parts of his armour. In the Digimon’s left hand was a large, dome-like shield that was wide enough to cover from the Digimon’s shoulder to his knee. The knight’s arm was placed inside a slot in the interior of the shield so that he could better hold it. Examon noticed that the face of the shield was a shimmering silver colour. In the center of the shield was a symbol of four red, almost-connected triangles: the same as the one that the Digimon had on his helmet. Surrounding the symbol was a golden ring bordered by small triangles, giving it the appearance of the sun. Matching this shimmering golden metal was the thick, gold ring around the rim of the shield. The golden rim was inscribed with Digimoji that read ‘Digital Monster’.

 

Examon narrowed eyes and bent his legs to get into a defensive stance. He could tell that this Digimon was strong. If he was with the bandits, it would be trouble for sure. The dragon man fanned his sentient wings fanning out to protect the dragon Digimon behind him. He aimed the Ambrosius at the knight Digimon.

 

Examon wasn’t sure why, but something about him made him think this approaching Digimon was draconic in nature. Even if he was a dragon Digimon, Examon didn’t want to take any chances, especially given how strong and confident the Digimon looked.

 

“Who are you? What do you want?” Examon demanded firmly.

 

“I come in peace,” the knight spoke, looking steadily at Examon.

 

To Examon’s surprise, the Digimon cast down his shield and stuck his own lance deep into the ground. Examon watched the knight raise his arms to signal that he was submitting and meant no ill-will. As the Digimon continued to approach, leaving the range of his weapon and shield, Examon felt confident in his sincerity and slowly lowered the Ambrosius. He gestured at the Digimon behind him to stay there, and proceeded to walk towards the Digimon to meet him.

 

“So...” the knight said in a slightly deep, but noble voice. He could feel a tinge of warmth in his words. The knight stopped a few meters away from Examon and looked at him with radiant, golden eyes. The armoured Digimon was as tall as Examon’s shoulders in height. “Your name is Examon. The one they call ‘the Dragon Emperor’,” he mused good-naturedly.

 

“I am...” Examon replied sceptically, though his lance was lowered enough that the tip touched the ground. He was confident that he wouldn’t have to use it. “Though it’s really just something they like to call me around here. It’s not a title; I’m not an actual emperor by any stretch... The authority here rests in the claws of the Four Great Dragons… I just protect the United Dramonic Coalition from hostile and evil Digimon. ...May I ask… Who are you?”

 

“My name is Dukemon. Dukemon of the Royal Knights,” he explained with a polite smile, lowering his gauntlet-covered hands and offering his right one to Examon as a show of good will.

 

Examon’s eyes widened slightly. “The... Royal Knights...?” he asked in disbelief. He had heard of the Royal Knights several times. They were an order of knightly Digimon who worked together to keep order and peace within the Digital World. They were in charge of Net Security, and they were said to serve Yggdrasil, the disputed creator of the Digital World. The Royal Knights were famous, not only on the continent of Eniac, but in the eastern continent of Colossus as well.

 

“That’s right,” he replied. Dukemon then glanced down at his hand, wondering if Examon was planning on taking it or not. “Uh…”

 

Examon blinked and realised that he was being unintentionally rude. The dragon flushed a bit and took Dukemon’s hand in his claws, shaking it firmly. “I’m sorry. I’m just surprised to see a Royal Knight here,” he explained.

 

Dukemon chuckled. “I get that a lot…” he explained. “It’s nice to meet you, Examon.” After retracting his hand, the Royal Knight then turned and looked at the unconscious MegaloGrowmon and MetalGreymon raiders. “You’ve been busy. Want me to take these two troublemakers off of your hands?”

 

“...You didn’t come all the way here just for that,” Examon replied, looking at Dukemon perceptively.

 

“Alright, you got me. I’ll get to the point,” Dukemon said, grinning slightly. “I’m here under orders from Alphamon, the head of the Royal Knights. He’s summoning you to our headquarters.”

 

Examon raised an eyebrow. “...Me? What could he want with me?” he inquired with confusion.

 

“M-Mister Dukemon, Sir,” Fladramon spoke up nervously. “Examon’s not in any trouble, is he?”

 

“The opposite,” Dukemon explained, taking an envelope which was secured inside the two belts around his waist. He offered the piece of paper to Examon, who nodded and took it. On it was Digimoji that translated to “To Examon”. The dragon turned the envelope over and saw that it had been closed with Alphamon’s personal seal.

 

He opened it and began reading.

 

“We noticed your skills in protecting this area. Your record has been impressive. Enough that Alphamon wants to recruit you as one of the Royal Knights,” the Royal Knight explained as Examon read.

 

“...What?” Examon asked, his eyes widening as Dukemon’s words were confirmed in writing.

 

“Examon? A Royal Knight?” Coredramon asked, liking the idea.

 

“...So, will you join me?” Dukemon asked with a friendly smile. “By the look on your face, I can tell that I was right.”

 

Examon looked down and frowned in thought. “I’m... honoured by the invitation. Really, I am… but...” he looked over to the villagers. “I can’t leave. I have a duty to protect the dragon Digimon of the United Draconic Coalition.”

 

“I admire your sense of duty, Examon. It’s commendable. But… think about it...” Dukemon said, trying to get Examon to keep an open mind. “By joining the Royal Knights, you’ll not only be able to protect this area, but you’ll also be able to protect the entire Digital World. I watched your fight just a few minutes ago and you have already proved your worth to me. You have fighting prowess, discipline, and a good heart. You’ve proved that much already,” the crimson Royal Knight commended him.

 

Dukemon smiled behind his visor. Examon thought he could make out crimson scales behind it. “And, of course, this territory, the United Dramonic Coalition, will continue to receive the full protection of the Royal Knights, but at a greater priority level with you around,” he added encouragingly. “You know the UDC well, and it’s right next to the Free Area.”

 

Examon studied him carefully before closing his eyes in thought. He knew Dukemon had a point and joining the Royal Knights felt like a good opportunity for him. A part of him felt a bit reluctant, as his sense of duty urged him to continue to protect this land specifically. However, as Dukemon said, he would still be able to do that as part of the Royal Knights.

 

He continued to ponder it. It wasn’t as though he had any close friends or family within the United Dramonic Coalition, only acquaintances. Examon had always been a bit of a loner, even after assuming the unofficial role as region’s protector. He always wanted to be a part of an elite team like the Royal Knights and he felt he would be able to get a lot done if he did. Part of him always wanted to do more than what he was doing. If he could protect the Digital World as well as the UDC…

 

“...Okay. I accept,” he answered with a light grin.

 

Dukemon folded his arms and nodded approvingly, a small smile present behind his helmet. “I’m glad, Examon,” he said. He then chuckled slightly. “OuRyuumon is going to _love_ this...” he knowingly joked to himself.

 

The white and red knight outstretched a hand towards him amiably. “Welcome to the team,” Dukemon stated, moving his other hand and placing it on Examon’s shoulder.

 

Examon, surprised, looked down at the hand for a moment. He then smiled and took it in his claws, shaking it firmly.

 

The dragon Digimon turned towards the nearby guards and civilians. “Will you all be okay?”

 

Fladramon nodded. “If anything, this’ll be better for us. I’ll be sure to tell the mayor at the capital. I’m sure the Four Great Dragons will want to hear about it too.”

 

Examon nodded quietly and looked back to Dukemon. “When do we leave?” he asked.

 

The Royal Knight shook his claws and then released them, taking his arm back. “Now. Unless you need more time...” Dukemon offered. “You might want to get the formalities out of the way before you start packing, but it’s completely up to you.”

 

“Now’s fine,” Examon replied. He frowned and looked over at the two unconscious Digimon. “Except...”

 

Turning towards them as well, Dukemon folded his arms. “Oh, right. Our esteemed friends here...” he mused with humour on his voice. “...I’ll take the MegaloGrowmon and you take the MetalGreymon. There will be a cozy spot in Havelock Prison for them.” He glanced at Examon with a smirk.

 

With a restrained smile, Examon walked over to the MetalGreymon, hoisted his tail over his shoulder and began the painstaking process of dragging him. Examon may have been an Ultimate level Digimon, but the MetalGreymon raider was still incredibly heavy.

 

He glanced over and saw Dukemon doing the same as him, dragging the MegaloGrowmon by the tail after fastening the lance and shield he dropped to his back. Examon couldn’t help but be impressed that the knight was actually overtaking him despite being slightly smaller than him. “I guess that’s why he’s a Royal Knight,” Examon said to himself, under his breath.

 

“Did you say something?” Dukemon asked, poking his head above the MegaloGrowmon’s tail to look over at him.

 

“Nothing,” the dragon answered sheepishly.

 

Examon looked at the letter in his hand and smiled to himself. “ _So... I’m going to become a Royal Knight..._ ”


	3. Chapter 2: The Royal Knights

**Chapter 2: The Royal Knights**

 

Examon and Dukemon grunted with effort as they dragged their unconscious prisoners over the lush, far-reaching grasslands. The red dragon Digimon clenched his teeth, stopping for a moment to arch his stiff back. The movement caused several uncomfortable popping noises in his rigid body.

 

Dukemon, who was leading the way, stopped as well and looked over his shoulder at Examon. “How are you holding up?” he asked with a light, friendly smirk that Examon was growing familiar with.

 

“Just fine,” Examon assured him. “Don’t worry about me.”

 

“Think of it as training,” the crimson knight replied encouragingly. He glanced at Examon meaningfully. “We could always switch if you want the lighter one.”

 

“Really. I’m fine...” he replied. He could feel his toe claws digging into the cool grass and dirt as he began pulling the MetalGreymon raider again.

 

He started to grow more conscious of himself. Examon wondered if he had made the right decision. Normally, he would mull over his options before making a decision, but he felt compelled to answer Dukemon in the moment. Dukemon had made a compelling argument and he had answered rashly. Now his second-guessing was beginning to catch up with him.

 

He started wondering if he was fit to be in the presence of Alphamon and the others. Meeting the Royal Knights would essentially be more important than any job interview he could ever hope to have in his life, and, at this rate, he would be sweaty and treading dirt through their headquarters. Examon wasn’t normally overly concerned with his appearance or hygiene, especially since he lived in a region inhabited by Dramon, but this day was different. Very different. He really did want to become a Royal Knight. It meant having the ability and means to protect more than just his home region. If all went well, he would be able to prevent destruction all over the world, bringing it even closer to peace. Or so he hoped.

 

As they started moving, Examon looked into the distance to see a gigantic castle, which he could assume was the Royal Knights’ headquarters judging by its sheer size and dominating appearance. This was the first time he left the United Dramonic Coalition’s general territory. He certainly hadn’t been in this area before, although he knew that he was currently in what was known as the Free Area. Examon also knew that the province that the Royal Knights directly controlled was called Splendour’s Reach. He remembered Dukemon previously saying that they were entering Splendour’s Reach, so Examon was confident that this distant castle belonged to the Royal Knights.

 

“Is that your headquarters?” Examon asked, motioning with his head towards the impressive castle.

 

“That’s right. Castle Albion,” Dukemon said, his gold eyes seeming fixed on it as he continued to pull the MegaloGrowmon. “It’s also our home.”

 

“Is it?” Examon asked, speeding up so he could look over at him.

 

Dukemon nodded and looked over at him with an eyebrow raised, as Examon noticed through the helmet’s eye slits. “That’s not a problem for you, is it? If you join the Royal Knights, you’ll be living there with us.”

 

“No, it’s fine,” he replied, calmly and dispassionately. “I don’t have any emotional attachment to my house in the United Dramonic Coalition. It was just a place to sleep.”

 

Dukemon grinned at him slightly, though it was barely visible behind his metal visor. “You don’t have to act cool to impress me, you know.”

 

“Who’s acting?” Examon asked, returning a small grin. He was amused by Dukemon’s thought process. However, Dukemon wasn’t entirely wrong. Examon did want to show that he was serious about joining the Royal Knights.

 

Chuckling, Dukemon led them further towards the castle. “I’m just saying, a lot of new members of the Order get a little homesick upon first joining. It’s not unusual,” he explained.

 

Examon nodded. “Did you?” he wondered.

 

Dukemon smiled thoughtfully and gazed at the distant castle. “Not me…” he responded mysteriously.

 

Examon followed his gaze to the castle. Castle Albion -- the Royal Knights’ headquarters was an amazing sight to behold. The stronghold was impressively built and its commanding presence seemed to prevail over the whole of Splendour’s Reach, if not the entire Free Area. The castle even rivalled some the draconic castles of the United Dramonic Coalition, which in it of itself was an impressive feat. Its craftsmanship and architecture was extraordinary. The landscape itself was quite stunning. There were verdant, bright green grasslands that stretched endlessly. Not far from the left, southern side of the castle was a river that flowed alongside the walls as it made its way from the inland towards the distant Net Ocean that wasn’t far from here.

 

The walls of the castle were awe-inspiring enough, standing tall and appeared home to various Digimon patrolling them on the ramparts. The thing that caught Examon’s attention the most was the giant building beyond the walls, in the inner portion of the castle. The main building stood taller than the walls and with three tall spires around it. Two of the tall watchtowers were near each side of the entrance and one was near the back of the stone keep. There were several stone bridges connecting the main building, the watch towers, and the ramparts to one another, creating a network of archways. It was clear that this was for easier mobility from place to place.

 

As they grew nearer to the primary gate, across from the deep moat, Examon could see more of the headquarters. The main building itself had a number of balconies and walkways, as well as entrances and exits for those able to fly, like himself. The structure’s top appeared level and gave foundation to the wide, octagonal shaped building. The main building was on the right hand side of the castle grounds, leaving a massive amount of open space on the left side of the castle interior. The castle’s coat of arms, which he assumed was the symbol of the Royal Knights, was flown from a flag at the top of the building.

 

“It’s incredible,” Examon spoke, although the stiff muscles in his back and winged arms distracted him slightly.

 

“You’ll get used to it. The grandeur wears off after a few weeks,” Dukemon answered with a grin. His voice then became a bit fonder as he stared at the castle. “That said, I wouldn’t trade it for the world…”

 

The dragon glanced at Dukemon and smiled faintly. “You enjoy being a Royal Knight, then?”

 

Dukemon closed his eyes and nodded. “You could say that...” he responded honestly. “I’ve devoted my whole life to the Order of the Royal Knights. Rather, the Royal Knights _are_ my life…”

 

“I see...” Examon answered pensively, a bit surprised at how deeply a connection Dukemon felt to them. He began to feel sheepish. “This is a bit embarrassing...”

 

“What is?” Dukemon asked, looking over at him.

 

“I don’t know as much about you Royal Knights as I probably should, given that I’m going to become one...” Examon admitted, scratching his cheek with a claw. “I know vague details... that you all protect the world and have beaten some tough opponents before, but... I have devoted most of my life to the UDC. I never actually left the UDC’s territory for more than a day.”

 

Smiling, Dukemon shook his head as if to dismiss his concerns. “Well, at least you’re honest. I respect that...” he replied. “Don’t worry. Those blanks will be filled in soon enough, Examon. We’ll teach you everything you need to know.”

 

Examon nodded, although he began to feel out of his depth. “...And the other Royal Knights? What are they like?” he questioned, both curious and apprehensive at the idea of meeting all the other Royal Knights.

 

“They’re all important friends of mine. And they all have different personalities,” Dukemon said, seeming to pick up on his hesitation. “Everybody gets along with people differently. Somebody who I think is stuck up could end up being your closest friend for all I know.”

 

“I guess that’s true...” Examon replied, slogging after the shorter Royal Knight.

 

As the two of them headed towards the bridge that spanned the castle moat, Examon was surprised to see a group of broad, humanoid Digimon walk through the raised portcullis. They were all clad head to toe in knightly plate armour, and had giant swords on their backs. One, the Knightmon who seemed to be in charge, ran up to Dukemon and saluted.

 

“Sir Dukemon. You’re back,” the Knightmon replied.

 

Dukemon nodded and suddenly let go of the unconscious MegaloGrowmon’s tail, letting it slide off his shoulder and hit the ground. “I didn’t mean to be late. I was helping Examon here.” He looked over at Examon. “Examon, this is Captain Knightmon, the Captain of the Order’s Defence Forces,” he explained, prompting Examon to nod politely at them when the group of Knightmon looked over.

 

Captain Knightmon, who was quite a bit taller and bulkier than the other Knightmon, looked over at the MetalGreymon and MegaloGrowmon lying in the grass. “Sir Dukemon, who are they...?”

 

“Raiders,” Dukemon explained bluntly. “Put them in chains and lock them up for processing. Don’t forget to deactivate their weapon systems with an inhibiting virus too. Their next stop is Havelock Prison.”

 

“Right away,” the Knightmon replied dutifully, nodding to his men.

 

Examon released the MetalGreymon’s tail and sighed with relief now that he didn’t have to drag him anymore.

 

“By the way, guys,” Dukemon added, prompting the Knightmon to stop what they were doing and look at him. “This, here, is Examon. He’s going to be joining us as the newest Royal Knight, so treat him like you would any other Royal Knight.”

 

A few of the Knightmon looked at Examon with stunned shock, thoroughly taken off guard by the news. They seemed to cast silent glances between one another. However, they all nodded at Dukemon and saluted both himself and Examon. “Of course. It’s an honour to meet you, Sir Examon.”

 

“Likewise...” Examon replied, although he couldn’t help but pick up on some discomfort from the Knightmon. It made him feel uncertain all of a sudden. Was it because he’s a dragon? Dukemon was draconic, but he at least looked humanoid, like they did. Examon started to wonder if the other knights were all strictly humanoid, and if his species would cause a fuss.

 

He shook his head with a dismissive wave. He was probably over thinking it, like he usually did with things. They had probably never seen an Examon before, like the raiders.

 

Dukemon put his gauntlet on Examon’s spiked shoulder and pulled him slightly, urging him along. “One good thing about being a Royal Knight is that you don’t have to do everything by yourself anymore,” he explained.

 

“Guess I’ll have to get used to that...” Examon muttered, glancing at Dukemon’s hand on his shoulder and suddenly noticing how informal the knight was around him. Being a Royal Knight, he expected Dukemon to be more... sophisticated. On the contrary, he was acting very chummy with Examon, who he had only just met today. Examon couldn’t really complain though, as it made him more comfortable at the idea of joining the Royal Knights, if only slightly.

 

Dukemon looked over and grinned at him as they passed under the gate towers and into the courtyard which was adorned with cobblestones. “It took me some getting used to too.”

 

As Examon was pulled along from the entrance gate, he was finally allotted a chance to look around inside the castle walls. His immediate surrounding was a spacious courtyard which served as a crossroads to many different destinations in Castle Albion. The first thing that he noticed upon entering was a beautiful, spacious garden to the right side of the main castle building. The garden stood between the southern wall and the citadel, just beyond the looming watchtower that wasn’t far in front of them. The castle gardens were full of beautiful, multi-coloured flora and fauna of all sorts of varieties. There were many species of plants that Examon had never even seen before. He could also hear the faint trickling of fountains deeper within the gardens.

 

Examon then turned his head to the left. Apart from the obvious main building that served as the most noticeable part of the castle, Examon noticed a large, cobbled road to the left that went northwards in the castle grounds. Lining the side of the large, castle courtyard was a series of shops and services. Certain Digimon were either hired by the Order for their services or were given permits to set up shop inside the castle grounds and sell to members of the Order. These were often essential services such as blacksmiths, tailors, merchants, and food vendors. Their stalls and, in some cases, huts, flanked the left side of the wide street so that they were placed below the castle wall. There were a few stone arch bridges that were constructed over the street in order to connect the watchtowers and the main building to the ramparts. Examon could see, at the far end of the street were several large barracks buildings that housed the rank-and-file Order members. Beyond that seemed to be a giant, expansive field of grass, which Examon assumed was for training and things.

 

“This way, Examon. This big building here is the keep, but we just call it the main building,” Dukemon explained, gesturing to the giant building in front of them. “This is where most of the stuff goes on. We live here, eat here, meet here… You’ll get the grand tour soon enough.”

 

The draconic knight led the dragon towards the broad, guarded entrance of the main building. The two Knightmon guards went to open the door for them, but Dukemon raised his hand, gesturing them to stop so he could do it himself.  “Haha, come on, guys. How many times? We’re knights, guys, not kings. We can handle a door,” Dukemon said to them.

 

The knight shot a grin at Examon. “They’re new too,” he explained, before turning back to the two Knightmon. “It’s cute how hard you’re trying though,” he teased them, putting his hand on one of their shoulders.

 

“S-Sorry,” the two Knightmon apologized and went back to their posts as Dukemon opened the door.

 

Dukemon walked inside with Examon following. They stepped into the entrance hall – the hall that led from the outside up to the foyer. Examon looked around at the new environment. The first thing he noticed was the feeling of a soft rug against the soles of his scaled feet. The crimson rug was draped along the long, stone hall, leading to another door at the top of three wide stairs at the opposite end of the wide corridor. There were a few windows and sconces for holding torches along the stone wall of the hall, but there wasn’t much else.

 

Examon started walking forwards, following Dukemon down the hall. As he had a very long, skinny tail, it was often awkward to walk with. It alternated between whipping behind him and dragging against the floor as he walked.

 

Suddenly, he felt a sharp, incredibly intense pain at the end of his tail. Examon heard himself let out a cross between a yelp and a roar.

 

In his great pain, he noticed Dukemon spin around with alarm. Examon quickly turned, nearly tripping over his taut tail, to see that the two Knightmon guards had closed the front doors on the long appendage. He heard two cries of worry suddenly sound out from the other side of the doors. The doors in question suddenly swung open to reveal the two Knightmon guards bowing their heads with their eyes shut tight.

 

“We’re sorry! We’re sorry! Sorry! We’re so very sorry!” they stammered with fear and embarrassment, bowing deeply.

 

Dukemon couldn’t help but laugh and look over at Examon, who was quickly pulling his tail over to hold the sore point and inspect the damage. Pain shot up the troublesome appendage as he grazed the tender scales with his claw, causing him to wince.

 

“Better your tail than my hair,” Dukemon said, turning his head to show and point at the long strands of white hair coming from his helmet. “It wouldn’t be the first time it had happened.”

 

“Grm...” Examon snarled lightly, his face blushing deeply at the fact he had reacted so dramatically... even if it did hurt like hell. Even so, he felt he should have handled that much better. He hoped that next time he wouldn’t make such a fool of himself. “Don’t... worry about it...” he mumbled, looking over his shoulder at the two Knightmon to show them that he had no hard feelings. He hoped that Dukemon couldn’t see his flushed face due to his already red scales.

 

“Are you alright?” the Royal Knight asked, though grinning, making Examon worry that he might have noticed. “That long tail must be cumbersome. I know my hair and cape can be at times.”

 

“I was just surprised. That’s all,” the hopefully-soon-to-be knight insisted, letting go of his tail and flicking it to test out the sore muscles. “And it can be a hindrance at times... The difference is, you can cut your hair and choose not to wear a cape.”

 

“That’s true... but I won’t,” Dukemon replied, winking at him before starting to walk up the stairs. “They look too awesome to give up.”

 

Despite his pain, Examon managed a smirk and followed him until they reached the top of the short flight of stairs. He stopped behind Dukemon when the knight halted in front of more wide, reinforced, wooden double doors. “What’s in there?” Examon asked curiously.

 

Dukemon walked to the doors and pulled them open, his red cape flowing from the gust of air and nearly hitting Examon in the face when he did. “The foyer,” he explained. “The entrance room to the main building of the castle. This building has pretty much everything we need to live here.”

 

Examon looked at him with heightened curiosity. “Oh?”

 

Nodding, Dukemon explained. “Yeah. We have plenty of bedrooms, a kitchen, a dining hall, the council room, bathrooms with working plumbing, a medical bay, a leisure room, a chapel to Yggdrasil, the war room, a library, the dungeons, the sparring room and gym, a communications room, the computers room, some offices, and other stuff too.”

 

 “That’s a lot...” he observed.

 

“Well, we do live here, after all,” the Royal Knight replied. Dukemon then walked through the doors and into the wide room.

 

Following, Examon looked around to take in his surroundings. They stood in a large, octagonal room with doors on each wall except for the two diagonal walls next to the door they just walked in. Also in an octagonal shape were the ten, stone grey pillars circling the open center of the room. They stretched up to the tall, stone ceiling overhead. Examon took a step forwards and felt his bare, clawed feet touch a cool, smooth, marble floor, causing a very soothing feeling against his scales. The floor’s design was a mixture of greys, dark blues, and greens.

 

Scanning the room, Examon saw that the two doors on the side walls led to hallways, and the two doors on the far diagonal walls led to stairs. Between those was a large set of opened double doors which led to a long, wide hall.

 

He also noticed three other things in the foyer. Digimon.

 

There were three Digimon off to the right side standing between two of the pillars, chatting.

 

Dukemon walked to the center of the room, grabbing their attention. Examon cautiously followed him into the open part of the foyer.

 

“Hey there, guys,” Dukemon greeted, recognizing these unknown Digimon.

 

Examon walked forward slightly, but kept his distance from them, partially because he didn’t want to seem too familiar with them and partially to scope them out. He guessed that was just a habit of his.

 

He watched Dukemon walk up to the trio of what looked like knights.

 

“Heya, Dukemon,” one of them said. Examon looked at the speaker, the tallest of the four Royal Knights. Despite being the tallest, Examon could tell that he was a head taller than the knight in question, making him feel like he stood out. The Royal Knight was largely humanoid in form but he also had distinctive dragon characteristics. The most noticeable of these were the large, leathery wings that sprouted from his back. These wings had well-developed muscles to easily keep him aloft. They were a cobalt blue colour on the outside and a pinkish-rose on the inside. The large, soft wings had a somewhat tattered, zigzag appearance along the bottom of his wingspan, giving the appearance of a cape.

 

The dragon man’s body was clad in splendorous cobalt armour that matched the colour of his wings. The armour was that of blue digizoid, a rare alloy of chrome digizoid that was the lightest of metals and allowed for dramatically improved speed. This shimmering blue metal covered many different parts of his body: the metallic boots that covered the soles of his clawed feet, the round spaulders that protected his shoulders, the loose-fitting vambraces over his forearms, and, finally, the breastplate that covered his muscular pectorals. Examon couldn’t help but gaze at his chest; fixed onto the silver and blue breastplate as a massive, metallic crest that was in the shape of a ‘V’. The golden metal sparkled in the torchlight, and the arms were long enough to reach up past the dragon man’s shoulders. The gold colour also matched the golden trimming that garnished the edges of his spaulders, vambraces, the back of his head, and the soft cloth around his waist.

 

It was as Examon was staring at his chest that he noticed the dragon’s midriff was exposed, not covered by his chest armour. The same was true for the Digimon’s biceps. He was able to see the dragon’s chiselled abs and biceps, which were covered by greyish-white scales. Examon briefly wondered why the colour of his blue wings differed from that of his arms and chest, but then he remembered that the Veedramon line had both white and blue tones over the scales of their bodies. Examon glanced down and noticed a belt around the dragon man’s waist, below his abdomen. It held in place two soft, semi-firm pieces of long, pointed, blue fabric that acted like faulds; they stretched down to cover his hips and legs while being soft, and malleable enough so as to not constrict movement. Examon noticed that the belt also held in place pieces of pointed, silver armour that protected his groin region and his rear.

 

Examon then noticed that the dragon man wore a pair of cobalt blue tights over his legs. They were scale-tight and seemed to be made of a flexible fabric so as to ensure maximum mobility. They were adorned with a lightning bolt design on his outer thighs. They disappeared under the metal shin armour that stretched from the knight’s knee to his sapphire boots. Matching the colour and fabric of his tights were his tight, fingerless gloves, which allowed his clawed, white fingers freedom of movement. Examon then noticed a pair of thick, metal bracelets around his wrists. The bracelets had the appearance of long spikes that stretched up the lengths of his forearms. They each had a medium sized circle that partially covered the backs of the Digimon’s hands; the circles seemed to have a large vent underneath that could emit energy. The V-Bracelets had an orange-red glow in the center of the circle, as well as the length that covered his forearms, that seemed to reflect their power. The cuffs of the bracelets also had a green glow that emanated the energy within them. This teal glow wasn’t just on his V-Bracelets however; it also radiated from the collar of his breastplate, as well as the length of the Digimon’s thick, muscular neck.

 

The green of his neck contrasted starkly to the blue helmet that the Digimon wore over the top half of his head. The dragon man had a semi-draconic head, complete with a pair of long, silver horns that jutted back from his head in a ‘V’ shape. The cobalt helmet was pointed at the nose, and has two wing-like spikes on the side of his head that gave his face a warm shimmer. Over the front of his face was a metal face mask, but there was a divide over his lips that seemed to allow him to open his mouth. The cobalt dragon man Digimon gazed curiously at Examon with bright, crimson eyes that betrayed a warm and amiable personality.

 

Examon offered a small smile at him uncertainly.

 

“Where have you been? I was trying to find you this morning,” another voice said, diverting Examon’s attention to the Digimon, next to the dragon man. Compared to himself and the Royal Knight he just observed, this Digimon was quite a short knight, just barely reaching up to the lower part of the dragon knight’s shoulders. Like the other one, he had draconic characteristics, such as his reptilian body and tail. The most noticeable thing about him, though, was the flashy, golden armour that he wore over most of his body, which made sure he would never be overlooked. It was the gold chrome digizoid alloy that allowed for maximum offensive capabilities and gave off a dazzling sheen. The golden armour covered much of his body, including his face, his upper body, his shoulders, his groin, and his shins.

 

Like the Digimon before him, the golden digizoid breastplate only covered his pectoral muscles, reaching from his ribs to his collar. The armour was angular and it contained two vents over his pecs that seemed like they might be used for concentrating energy. He wore similar, golden vambraces over his forearms that protected from his elbows to his wrists. Likewise, the golden chrome digizoid covered his shins and feet entirely. The shin guards and boots of the knight were thick and angular, with three, metal teeth on each foot to serve as the boots’ toes. The design of the boots was incredibly similar to that of the Digimental of Miracles. In fact, the connection didn’t end there. Around the dragon man’s waist was more golden armour. A long, downward-pointing slab of metal served to protect the knight’s groin area. Embedded on the face of this piece of armour was the Crest of Miracles, which was a jagged ‘M’ shape four long, crystal shapes around it: one pointing up from the top and three pointing down from the bottom.

 

Fastened to this piece of armour around his waist were two wing-like pieces of chrome digizoid. They were long, thick faulds that protected the Royal Knight’s hips. However, they were significantly larger than the rest of his armour. This was true for the long, protrusive spaulders that connected to his breast plate and covered the Digimon’s shoulders as well. They were both extremely lengthy and bulky. On closer inspection, Examon noticed that they had several, small turbines and vents on the underside of the armour. They seemed to be used for both aerial stability and for the emission and venting of energy from the Royal Knight’s holy armour. Examon’s keen eyes also noticed that there were several small missile ports on top of his faulds and spaulders as well. He hadn’t realised that the dragon man’s armour was so practical and weaponized until now.

 

The golden armour sparkled in the light, giving him a lustrous glow that made it hard for him to be ignored. As he sized up the shorter dragon man, Examon noticed that much of his body was unprotected by armour. His quadriceps, biceps, abdomen, and tail were all unprotected by the armour so as to allow for mobility. The dragon man had smooth, sapphire scales over the whole of his body, except for his white underbelly that clearly showed him to be another Veemon-type Digimon. He had a lithe, but clearly athletic body, evident by his slender but developed muscles. The dragon man had three-fingered hands complete with claws, which were currently resting on his hips as he looked at Dukemon and Examon.

 

Over the whole of his face was a golden helmet that contained two ornate spikes on each side of his face. On the forehead of his helmet were two more spikes that acted as a crest, formed in such a way that they made a ‘V’. The helmet reached from his chin to the back of his head, but ended there. Two, blue, horn-like ears protruded from the back of his head, as did a set of smaller spikes below them. It was hard to see his expression behind his mask, but Examon could see a pair of bright, red eyes gazing at him through the eye holes in his helmet. They seemed warm and friendly.

 

“Special mission from Alphamon,” Dukemon explained to them. He looked over his shoulder gesturing towards Examon. “I was supposed to find this guy.”

 

The third knight looked over towards Examon; if Examon had been a less composed Digimon than he was, he might have been intimidated by the Digimon’s appearance. The knight was humanoid in appearance, even more so than the two dragon knights beside him. He had a broad, muscular body that boasted countless hours of training. This stalwart, well-developed body was clad in violet armour made entirely of what was known as black digizoid, a rare alloy of chrome digizoid that allowed its own data to be accessed. Over his upper body, he wore a thick, rounded breastplate that covered his ribs, back, and pectoral muscles. The plate armour had a tall collar that further protected his neck and face from blows. Made from the same material as his breastplate was the long vambraces that covered the whole of the knight’s forearms; they even ended in a spike that extended over the backs of his hands, which were covered in lavender gauntlets.

 

He leaned against the pillar behind him, with one of his legs bent and his foot pressed against the marble column. Examon saw that his legs were completely protected by the black digizoid plate armour. The metal was fitted around his waist and reached all the way down to his clawed, metal boots, which were made of the same material. There was only a gap behind his spiked kneepads to allow for flexibility. As Examon observed the Royal Knight’s legs, he noticed a skull-shaped buckle attached to the armour on his waist. It, along with two, metal clasps, held in place a long sash that hung down between the Royal Knight’s legs. The sash was black with an intricate blue design that went down its length, finishing with notched, red trimming. Skulls seemed to be a theme of this knight. Not only did the buckle have a skull design, but so did the thick, black spaulders that were attached to his shoulders. The pieces of shoulder armour were thick and shaped like a rounded kite shield. They were noticeably black with a similarly shaped red pattern that surrounded a gold skull in the center of the vambrace. It was then that Examon noticed a massive kite shield resting against the pillar that pillar that the Digimon leaned on. The kite shield was thicker than the Royal Knight’s body and was over half his size in height. Like the vambraces, the shield was a deep black colour, giving it a foreboding appearance. The rim was blood red, and there was a large gold crest in the center that also had a vaguely skull-shape to it.

 

The Royal Knight unfolded his arms and stood up straight. It allowed Examon to better see the knight’s unarmoured biceps and abdomen. He could see that the Royal Knight wore a form-fitting, lavender bodysuit underneath his armour. The spandex-like fabric clung to his firm abs, but seemed to allow for enough flexibility to be practical in combat. Between his spiked shoulders was a helmet-covered head. The violet helmet completely covered his face and also had a skull-like theme to it; the slits that covered his mouth were reminiscent of skeletal teeth. Within the eyeholes were two, glowing, crimson eyes. The blood red irises were completely surrounded by darkness, giving them a fearsome, unapproachable, otherworldly appearance. The appearance of impending doom wasn’t exactly a look that Examon expected from one of the Royal Knights, but he wasn’t exactly in a place to judge. Finally, sticking up from the sides of the Royal Knight’s head was a pair of purple tassels that had a soft, hair-like consistency.

 

“And... what does Alphamon want with him, exactly?” the violet knight asked, sizing up Examon with cold scrutiny.

 

Examon cleared his throat sheepishly. “My name is Examon,” he introduced himself, hoping they would do the same. “It’s an honour to meet you.”

 

The short, gold-armoured knight was the first one to reply. “I’m Magnamon,” he responded warmly. The knight walked over and outstretched his clawed hand, to which Examon shook it gently and courteously. “It’s nice to meet you too, Examon.”

 

“Examon...” the blue, winged knight echoed, as if he found the name familiar. “Uh, well, my name’s UlforceVeedramon. Ulforce for short. Nice to meet you, Examon.” UlforceVeedramon smiled, walked over, and offered his hand as well, to which Examon promptly took it with his claws.

 

“Craniamon,” the purple knight introduced himself tersely. He placed his gloved hands on his hips and eyed Examon with his piercing red eyes. “So what _are_ you doing here, if you don’t me asking?”

 

“Don’t be so rude to our guests, Craniamon,” Magnamon chastised, looking over his shoulder at the violet Royal Knight. He looked at Examon. “Sorry. He’s always a bit brusque like that. Don’t take it personally.”

 

“It’s fine,” Examon reassured them. He met eyes with Dukemon and nodded at him meaningfully.

 

“Well… He was probably going to announce it at the upcoming meeting, but… Alphamon invited Examon here to become the newest member of the Royal Knights,” Dukemon explained, smiling a bit.

 

“...Huh?” questioned Magnamon, turning around to look at Dukemon with surprise.

 

“…What?” Craniamon demanded, looking between Dukemon and Examon. “This dragon is to be a Royal Knight?”

 

After his initial shock, UlforceVeedramon glanced over at Craniamon. “…Hey, Craniamon. There are three other dragon Royal Knights standing right here, you know,” he reminded him with some humour in his voice. “Wings, horns, scales… Kind of a giveaway.”

 

“You three may be draconic, but you at least _look_ like knights,” Craniamon replied, frowning. “We’re supposed to be the Royal Knights. Sleipmon was one thing – I accept him now – but adding a full blown dragon to our ranks tarnishes our image. What’s next? A Seadramon?”

 

Magnamon sighed and shook his head. “This is the Sleipmon argument all over again. Just because he’s a horse-man Digimon, that doesn’t mean he isn’t a worthy Royal Knight... And you said yourself that you accept Sleipmon now. Don’t be so close-minded, Craniamon. If this is Alphamon’s decision, then that’s good enough for me. I’m willing to accept Examon; You should too. Just get used to the idea before you judge him,” he insisted.

 

“Me too,” Dukemon agreed, folding his arms and nodding. “It’s what’s on the inside that counts, isn’t it?” he added.

 

Craniamon seemed to scoff at himself. Examon wasn’t sure why, but he could have sworn he saw Dukemon grimace slightly in response to Craniamon’s reaction.

 

“If this is Alphamon’s decision, then I suppose I’ll just have to suck it up. It would have been nice if he asked us first though…” Craniamon muttered. He then gazed at Examon distastefully. “You had better pull your weight, dragon. The Royal Knights have an image to maintain. I hope you’re a damn good fighter if Alphamon is so confident about picking you to be the eleventh.”

 

Examon winced and sheepishly rubbed the back of his scaled neck. “I will try my best…” he uncertainly replied.

 

It was then that UlforceVeedramon’s face seemed to light up with realisation. “Oh, I remember now… Examon! You’re the guardian of the UDC. You call yourself the Dragon Emperor, right?” he said, although his light-hearted voice seemed to now contain a sarcastic edge to it.

 

Examon was suddenly having second thoughts about coming here. He could feel a standoffish aura in the foyer. He turned to UlforceVeedramon, who continued.

 

“With a title like that, I guess the rest of us dragon Digimon have to defer to you, don’t we?” UlforceVeedramon spoke sarcastically, smirking slightly. It was clear that he felt affronted being in the presence of a Digimon with that title. “I mean, even though you’re becoming a Royal Knight, I sure wouldn’t want to assume to be your equal. That would be foolish of me! As a dragon Digimon who’s apparently beneath you, I suppose I should call you ‘ _Ex-sama’_. Does that sound acceptable, your majesty?”

 

“Ulforce,” Dukemon warned, casting an annoyed glare at the blue dragon. “Cut it out.”

 

UlforceVeedramon merely grinned in response. “What? We’re Royal Knights, not kings,” he defended. “If he wants to call himself something that puts him above the rest of us, you can’t expect me to be happy about it.”

 

“He has a point, Dukemon,” Craniamon said. “No one Royal Knight is better than another.”

 

“Funny you should say that, Craniamon. Just a minute ago you were disparaging him for being a dragon,” Dukemon pointed out sharply, starting to get heated up.

 

Craniamon narrowed his glowing, crimson eyes icily. “…What?” he coldly asked. “Are you calling me a hypocrite?”

 

“Well, if the boot fits…” Dukemon responded.

 

“Tch…” Craniamon scoffed. “It’s not the same... He has yet to prove himself as a capable Royal Knight. I certainly haven’t seen him in action…” he insisted. He glanced at Examon with a cold leer. “Until you prove yourself as worthy of the mantle of ‘Royal Knight’, I refuse to acknowledge you as our equal. …Don’t disappoint me, dragon.”

 

Examon gritted his teeth. He couldn’t understand why they were reacting with so much hostility to him. Were his social skills that bad that he already made enemies of half of the knights he had met?

 

“I’m not an emperor of anybody,” Examon replied emphatically, staring at UlforceVeedramon. “I didn’t call myself that. It’s just what they…” He sighed and trailed off. He didn’t see much point in trying to defend himself.

 

With two out of the four Royal Knights already resistant to his joining, he could only imagine how the rest of them would respond. He was a large, awkward dragon; he certainly didn’t feel like he’d be able to fit in among a bunch of well-respected, humanoid Royal Knights. This cool reception amplified the doubts he already had about agreeing to come here. He began to feel that maybe it was best if he just stuck to doing what he did best: protecting the United Dramonic Coalition.

 

He turned to Dukemon next and bowed his head apologetically. “Maybe this was a mistake, Dukemon. Tell Alphamon that I’m grateful for the opportunity, but-“

 

“Oh, don’t be so dramatic,” Dukemon replied sharply, narrowing his eyes at him. “Craniamon always acts like he has his spear up his rear, and Ulforce teases everybody. Just ignore them; I thought you had tougher scales than that. Are you really that weak as to let a few snide comments stop you from making a difference? I expected better, Examon.”

 

Magnamon nodded in agreement. “You’ll be a part of the team in no time, Examon. You would only hate yourself later for passing up such an opportunity.”

 

Examon raised his head and looked between the two. He stalled his response and thought carefully about their words. They did bring up good points. He felt he was better than to let a few derisive words keep him from putting himself in a position where he could help protect the world. Craniamon and UlforceVeedramon may be Royal Knights, but they were just Digimon like him too. They had the wrong impressions of him. He needed to prove his capabilities to them to make them change their minds. The Digital World was worth persevering through a bit of awkwardness and discomfort. It helped that he seemed to have Dukemon and Magnamon on his side, at least.

 

“…You’re right, Dukemon,” Examon finally answered. He turned to Craniamon and UlforceVeedramon calmly. “Whatever your first impressions are of me, I hope that you’ll be able to look past them and work together with me in the future. I plan to do my best to make sure I’m an asset to your team.”

 

At his rediscovered determination, Magnamon smiled and Dukemon nodded at him approvingly.

 

“I prefer to work alone,” Craniamon responded coolly, He turned and walked towards the opened double doors in the wall across from the entrance hall.

 

UlforceVeedramon smiled and went to follow him. “Well, Ex-sama, I’m willing to give you the chance to prove me wrong,” he challenged. “A word of warning: if you _do_ become a Royal Knight, I know one person who’s not going to be happy about it…” he said with a slight chuckle before going through the doorway.

 

“Come on, Examon. This way,” Dukemon said, following Craniamon and UlforceVeedramon.

 

“Who does he mean?” Examon asked, looking down at Magnamon, who was walking beside him.

 

“OuRyuumon, most likely,” Magnamon answered.

 

“Is he one of the Royal Knights?” he asked him, remembering Dukemon mention his name when they first met.

 

“No. He wants to be though. He and Alphamon are very close friends,” the Royal Knight explained. “He’s as close as you can get to being a Royal Knight without being one. He’s the Captain of our Strike Forces and he’s been with us since the Order was founded. He’s not officially a Royal Knight though, and it’s no secret that he wants to become one.”

 

“If he and Alphamon are such close friends, then why isn’t he a Royal Knight?”

 

Magnamon smiled. “If one thing can be said about Alphamon, it’s that he’s fair and impartial. He takes a balanced, thoughtful view of everything. That’s part of why he’s such a good leader. And that’s why I trust him in choosing you as a Royal Knight,” he told him reassuringly. “As for why OuRyuumon isn’t a Royal Knight... Well, I don’t know Alphamon’s reasons, but my guess is that it’s OuRyuumon’s hotheadedness. Sure, Dukemon may be hotheaded at times too, but OuRyuumon is much harder to control when he gets worked up. You should see him in the heat of battle. He’s like a wild beast.”

 

Dukemon glanced over his shoulder but kept walking. Examon turned his head forwards. “I see,” he responded, walking out of the foyer and into a grand hall.

 

The hall around them was an amazing sight to behold. It was long and wide with a tall ceiling. In fact, Examon figured that the path from the entrance of the main building to here was large enough for even a MegaSeadramon to pass through without getting stuck. Again, he felt cold, marble tiles beneath his feet, but this time they were a golden beige colour, much like the walls and ceiling of the great hall. The whole room was very open, with zero furniture. There was another set of large double doors at the end of the hall, along with two smaller doors on the far ends of the side walls.

 

“So…” Examon began, looking forwards at Dukemon. “You’re hotheaded?” he questioned, before looking around calmly. He was inwardly impressed by the beautiful designs on the floor and walls.

 

Dukemon rubbed the back of his head with mild discomfort, but he looked back at Examon with a light-hearted look in his gold eyes. “Guilty,” he admitted. “If somebody makes me angry, I’m not shy about letting them know about it. I guess I have a bit of a temper sometimes.”

 

Magnamon chuckled. “He’s not that bad, really,” he assured Examon. “It’s rare that we see Dukemon get too angry. It’s mostly Duftmon that gets on his nerves.” After a moment, Magnamon thought to himself. “Maybe don’t expect the warmest of welcomes from Duftmon either. He’s a bit… well, you’ll see.”

 

Examon frowned at this ominous warning, but he steeled his resolve. “Er, okay… Where are we going?” he asked, looking around the spacious great hall.

 

“The council room,” Dukemon explained, looking over his shoulder again. “It’s where we discuss official matters. It’s our main meeting place.”

 

Magnamon nodded. “The rest of the knights should be there by now; we were being summoned for a meeting when you and Dukemon arrived. I guess we know what it’s about now.”

 

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to ruin the surprise,” Examon said with a calmed voice, glancing over at Magnamon with a raised eyebrow.

 

The short knight gave a soft chuckle. “I think that adding a knight to our ranks is enough excitement on its own,” Magnamon explained. “This is a big deal to us too.”

 

Examon smiled slightly and looked forward, channeling his bravery and confidence. For as long as the hall was, it didn’t feel as though it took long to reach its end.

 

He saw Dukemon, who wasn’t far ahead, pass through the doorway at the end of the great hall. Examon’s heart was calm as he walked with Magnamon into what he was told was the council room.

 

As soon as Examon walked in the room, he noticed a stark difference in setting. The glamour of the great hall wasn’t found in this room. The walls and floor were made of grey stone, giving the room a feeling of formal earnest and gravity. The next thing that caught his eye was a giant stained glass window at the back of the room, opposite from Examon. It glowed with white light as the sun shone in from outside. It reached from the floor to the ceiling and the picture was stunning. Displayed in the window was a picture of a Digimon – a blue scaled dragon man by the look of it, not unlike Magnamon. However, he was taller and wore pristine white armour. If it weren’t for the white colour of the armour and the wings, he would have said it was an Imperialdramon Fighter Mode, a Digimon of the Veemon line like Magnamon and UlforceVeedramon. No, he was pretty sure he heard of another Digimon similar, but much rarer - Imperialdramon: Paladin Mode.

 

The window depicted him in a heroic stance, one arm arched with his fist clenched tight with determination, and the other arm pointing up with a large sword raised in the air. The sword’s blade was etched with Digimoji. It said ‘Initialize’.

 

“I’m glad you’re all here,” a strong, but low voice said, bringing Examon’s thoughts back down to earth. He was embarrassed at himself for allowing himself to be distracted by the culture shock. He made sure that he didn’t let that show.

 

Examon looked down from the window to the middle of the room. In the center of the room was a large, circular table at the centre, made from the whitest stone. It looked as smooth and glossy as marble. Around it were many seats, most of them with Digimon sitting in them. At the far end of the round table, a knight in black armour stood up from his seat. The seat to his right was occupied by a white knight, who appeared to be looking at the standing Digimon with some surprise on his face.

 

“I see you managed to find him, Dukemon,” he said, looking at Dukemon who stopped walking and stood still.

 

“That’s right,” Dukemon replied. “And when I did, he was in the process of taking down some raiders. I would say you picked well, Alphamon.” The crimson knight looked over his shoulder at Examon, giving him what he assumed was a grin behind his helmet.

 

The black Royal Knight named Alphamon nodded. He looked past Dukemon and into Examon’s eyes. “Greetings, Examon. I am grateful that you have accepted my invitation,” he said, his voice disarming and warm.

 

“The honour is all mine,” Examon responded, bowing his head with genuine humility and respect.

 

“My name is Alphamon, and these are the Royal Knights,” he explained, gently waving an arm out in front of him to gesture to the other Digimon sitting around the table.

 

“Uhh... Alphamon... Who is this Digimon?” a voice said.

 

Examon looked up and was surprised to see a dragon Digimon looking over at him. The Digimon was taller than any of the Royal Knights there, and he stood apart from the table. The dragon had a long, slender, serpentine body of several meters in length; if they both stood up straight, the dragon would be as tall as or taller than Examon. He stood on short, rather stubby legs, which were attached to draconic feet that bore two toe claws and a talon on each of his heels. The dragon had hard, brown scales coating his most of his body ryu-like body, with the exception of his chest which was covered a golden underbelly that was made up of segmented, plate-like scales.

 

The dragon had a pair of arms folded across his skinny, serpentine chest. His forearms were covered in ornate, gold and black vambraces, while his toned shoulders and biceps were covered brown and gold spaulders. The studded, gold metal on the surface of the spaulders matched that of the cuisses that covered the thighs of his short but muscular legs. As he gazed at Examon, his long, brown tail swayed back and forth. The thick appendage was tipped with a toothed, arrow-head shaped ornament that seemed to have deadly combat potential. Glistening in the dim light shining in through the stained glass window were a pair of black, metal wings that protruded from the Digimon’s back. The wings (known as the Gaiba Daimeijin) were in a semi-crescent, arbelos shape, and they seemed to be more blade than wing. The interior of the metal was followed out so as to reduced weight, the curved, outer edge of the wings were gold and bladed. Despite the ornate, deadly design, they seemed to be functional.

 

Around the dragon’s waist was a belt from which two scimitars loosely hung on both sides of his waist. The scimitars (known as the Gairyu Sadaijin for the left-hand sword and the Gairyu Udaijin for the right-hand sword) were in the same curved, notched shape as the dragon’s wings. The dragon’s head was turned towards Examon. Over his head was an ornate, intricate, decidedly-Eastern helmet much like a kabuto. It was complete with spiky, wing-like projections that hung from the side of his head. The head in question was draconic in nature, complete with a long, broad snout and rows jagged teeth that gave him a savage appearance. The chin and bridge of his snout was covered in a spiked, golden face mask that was decorated with green embellishments along the metal. On his forehead, attached the helmet covering his head, was a large, ornate, golden crest that curved from the bridge of his snout and along his head before branching up into fearsome, bladed horns with irregular, notched edges. At the nose of the crest was an intricate, golden dragon statuette, which seemed to guard the large, crimson gem that was embedded in the bridge of the dragon’s snout. Examon noticed that the ruby-like crystal was extremely similar to the one that Alphamon had on his forehead. The tall, gold dragon leered at Examon with striking violet eyes which matched the pale, purple hair that protruded from the back of the dragon’s head.

 

UlforceVeedramon chuckled a bit and sat down in an empty chair. “This ought to be a good show. Don’t say I didn’t warn you, Ex-sama,” he teased him.

 

Alphamon looked over to the serpentine Digimon. “OuRyuumon?” he said to him before looking to the others. “Royal Knights?” He locked eyes with Examon. “This is Examon. The newest and eleventh member of the Royal Knights. He’s the one I’ve been talking about. Please make him feel welcome.”

 

“What?! This is preposterous!” a refined, articulate voice complained indignantly.

 

“ _Great_ ,” Examon thought as he turned towards the voice. “ _More outrage_.”

 

Glaring at him was a slender, humanoid Royal Knight who sat in his chair with impeccable posture. His lithe, agile body was covered in primarily brown armour. The coffee brown metal covered his skinny arms and hands in the form of flexible gauntlets. It also covered his back, his groin, and his legs, all the way down to his pointed, bladed boots. His chest, in stark contrast, was a pure, immaculate white hue, much like the metal tassets that covered the knight’s outer thighs. Along the edges of the Digimon’s chest were glowing, mauve crystals that lined the edge of the white metal. These crystals also studded the decorative metal cuffs that rested above the knight’s elbows, and the silver poleyns that covered his knees. These crystals, as well as the metal cuffs over his biceps and knees, helped to give the Digimon a regal appearance.

 

This appearance was further amplified by the rest of his form. Stretching out from the humanoid knight’s shoulders were a pair of broad wings that twitched irritably. These wings were full of pure, immaculate, elegant feathers that were a pristine, snowy white hue. Resting above the angelic set of wings were large, rounded spaulders that covered the knight’s shoulders. Between these was a head whose face was covered in an intricate mask that was silver over his mouth and chin, but a deep blue over his eyes and forehead. Sticking out of the side of his head were two small, blue spikes that matched the metal spikes that extended from the cuffs on his biceps. The Digimon glared at Examon with sharp, emerald eyes, obviously disdainful at what he saw. Right above these eyes was a large, brown helmet in the shape of a leopard’s head. The feline helmet at a pair of gleaming red eyes that Examon could have sworn were also glaring at him despite being empty armour. Flowing out of the back of the knight’s head was long, rich, well-groomed blond hair that flowed like a thick mane and reached all the way down to his hips. Examon wondered if all the Royal Knights had long hair liked him and Dukemon; it didn’t seem very practical as far as he was concerned.

 

Drooping over the sides of his chair were the ends of a long, red scarf tied around his waist and a brown tail with a yellow orb at the end. “Alphamon, what possessed you to enlist _him_ as a member?” the Royal Knight demanded as he rose to his feet. Upon standing up from behind the table, Examon could see a bright, crimson sash wrapped around his waist like a belt, the red colour matching the thin, crimson streaks of the knight’s brown ankle armour. The waist scarf was clean and unblemished, much like the rest of the Digimon’s body. The fabric’s two, long ends, tied the sash together at the knight’s back and hung down to the knight’s ankles evenly. As he stood up fully, Examon also noticed a long, slender tail that was covered in very segmented armour to allow for mobility. The tail ended in a large, puffy, yellow ball of fuzz that was a little cute, despite the stern disposition of its owner. Beside the Digimon’s hand, resting against the table, was a long, slender rapier with a segmented crosspiece that pointed forwards slightly. His sword was known as the Shoumetsu no Tsurugi.

 

The brown knight folded his arms across his chest and tilted his feline-themed head upwards with smug derision. “Alphamon, I demand to know your reasoning behind this terrible decision.”

 

“An Examon?” a different male, yet slightly effeminate and refined voice mused with interest.

 

Examon looked over and saw a knight that he could only describe as flamboyant. Any male knight who wears pink armour from head to toe can safely be described as such. The hot pink armour covered his slender, agile body completely, giving him a striking appearance. He must have been quite confident in himself to pull that look off. Lining the pink armour was a dazzling gold. The golden trimming lined his pointed knee blades, his elbows (which also contained long, jutting spikes), the rims of his leg and shoulder armour, and his jutting breastplate to give it an ornate design.

 

Looping twice around the Digimon’s shoulders were shimmering, golden ribbons that were fastened to his shoulders by two round, star-emblazoned clasps. The gold sashes were made of a soft, highly flexible metal that was capable of elongating and hardening at will. The ribbons ended in points which were could form the tips of blades if he desired it. Matching these was a large, golden shield that covered the whole of the knight’s right forearm. It was designed in such a way that his arm had to be placed into a slot within the base of the shield so that he could effectively move it in tandem with his arm. However, he could easily remove his arm from the shield whenever he wanted. The face of the shield was emblazoned with a pink cross that contained a round, gleaming, blue gem at the cross section. Examon could tell from the design that the knight’s Pile Bunker was as much a weapon as it was a shield.

 

The Royal Knight looked at Examon with amusement. His entire head was covered by pink helmet, with only a silver indent at the front to give him the vaguest of facial characteristics. Unlike the other Royal Knights, the helmet had no eyeholes, so his eyes, if he had any, were completely covered by the helmet, which meant he had an extrasensory means of seeing. The helmet was pointed at the back, and his neck was also covered by the pink armour. It was clear that the Digimon liked aesthetic designs, as he had a pair of tiny golden wings protruding back from the sides of his helmet, which were more there for ornamentation than anything else. He also had loose, gold hoop around his left wrist, just above his slender, pink gauntlet.

 

The pink Royal Knight gazed at Examon, his head cocked with interest and amusement “Another very strange choice for a new Royal Knight you have made, Alphamon. Such a large dragon seems a tad unusual for the newest member of our team, but I do rather enjoy unusual. And he has the added bonus of being quite attractive, as well. Hmm…” He shrugged nonchalantly. “Why, I think I could get used to having another handsome Digimon around!”

 

Examon blinked in surprise at that last comment. “ _Well... that’s better than nothing, I guess…_ ” he figured, willing to take any support that he could get.

 

“A-Alphamon... You can’t be serious!” shouted the dragon Digimon that Examon now knew was called OuRyuumon. The dragon sounded angry, as well as a bit hurt. “Him?! Why him?!”

 

“Stop it, you guys,” Dukemon said with some fire in his voice, glaring at the knights who protested. “Just give him a chance.”

 

“We’ll talk later, OuRyuumon,” Alphamon said to him, glancing over. He sighed and rubbed the back of his head. “What part of ‘make him feel welcome’ was so difficult to understand?” he asked in a dry, exasperated voice.

 

“Hmph. Whatever,” OuRyuumon grunted, casting a fiery glare at Examon as he stormed out of the council room. “I’m outta here. This meeting is for Royal Knights anyways,” he made sure to pointedly add with an angry leer at Alphamon.

 

Alphamon watched as OuRyuumon stomped out into the great hall, unable to help but feel a bit guilty. “I had a feeling this would go over well,” Alphamon murmured to the white armoured Digimon beside him.

 

“Give them time, Alphamon,” Omegamon responded reassuringly. “Not everybody reacts well to change. They just need some time to get used to it.”

 

“Yes, I suppose you’re right,” he replied softly.

 

Examon frowned at the commotion his presence caused. He certainly never had this effect back in the United Dramonic Coalition. This setting seemed like an acquired taste to him now. He hoped that the knights would warm to him after a few days, but he really couldn’t guarantee that from the way things seemed at the moment.

 

He looked at the remaining two knights who really hadn’t reacted strongly to the announcement. He was eager to see how the remaining two Royal Knights would respond.

 

The first one he looked at was a large, humanoid dragon Digimon who was sitting with one arm casually slung over the back of his seat. The draconic warrior was a broad, muscular body that radiated strength and power. His body was clad in intricate white armour that was made from chrome digizoid metal. He donned a thick, metal breastplate over the top part of his chest. The plate was a periwinkle colour at the front and white at the sides. Below his abdomen was a separate piece of armour that covered his waist and lower regions. It was completely white with medium length, spike-shaped plates jutting backwards over his hips. The top rim of the hip around was lined with small, golden spikes while the bottom edge of his breastplate was as well, giving the appearance of dragon teeth around his muscular abdomen. Connected to his breastplate were three layers of white spaulders that covered his broad shoulders and armpits. These plates of shoulder armour each contained three jagged spikes at their ends, which made them seem like they’d be very painful to collide into.

 

The chrome digizoid also covered the long, white vambraces that covered the dragon’s brawny forearms. The armour was violet around his wrists, and they stretched over the dragon man’s massive set of five-fingered claws. One of dragon warrior’s hands rested on the white table, his palm opened in a relaxed way. The claws were violet in colour and looked as though they could crush a Digimon’s head with his bare hands. Examon could see a reflective glimmer in the Digimon’s hand; he noticed a massive, crimson gem that was embedded in his palm. It was similar to the ones that he saw on Alphamon’s palms, except larger. Just by looking at them, Examon deduced that they had highly destructive capabilities. The only other pieces of armour were the white, metal plates covering the dragon man’s shins. Like his breastplate, vambraces and spaulders, his shin armour was lined with golden teeth for ornamentation. The upper rim of the leg armour was adorned with a thick golden rim that took on the appearance of a dragon’s head, complete with red eyes and teeth. The heels of the Digimon’s draconic feet were garnished with golden spikes, and the fronts of his feet were covered in massive, pyramidal, boots that took the form of a giant spike.

 

Underneath his armour, the dragon wore a semi-tight white and violet fabric that covered his torso and thighs. Like the rest of his armour, it contained gold ornamentation such as tooth like trimming and studs. His only uncovered parts were his feet and his muscular, well-developed biceps, which showed off his pale, iris-hued scales. A pair of large, violet wings stretched out from his brawny back, boasting developed wing muscles and a large wingspan. Examon looked at his draconic face and saw a pair of crimson eyes staring at him. Over the top of his head was a white helmet with two large, bull-like horns protruding forward at a right angle, giving him a dominating appearance. He wore violet metal over his chin and a golden slab of metal between his eyes and his mouth. He was certainly an intimidating Digimon. However, Examon’s concerns were dispelled when he saw the dragon man flash him a broad, toothy grin from his mouth, which appeared between the upper gold part and the lower white part of his face. The Digimon reached his large hand behind his head and idly scratched the violet scales on the back of his neck.

 

“Hah, Examon was it?” he asked, smiling amiably. “I heard about you. It’ll be good to have another dragon around. Welcome to the team.”

 

“Thank you…” Examon graciously responded before turning to the final Royal Knight.

 

This Royal Knight was a surprise to Examon. Rather than the generally humanoid body that the rest of the Royal Knights had, this Digimon was much more beast-like. His upper body was still generally humanoid, but the lower half of his body was that of a six-legged horse. This Digimon was similar to a centaur, except his head was also equine in nature. The majority of the horse knight’s sturdy, agile body was covered in red digizoid armour – the most durable of the chrome digizoid alloys, and extremely difficult for even chrome digizoid to penetrate. It covered the six, muscular legs that extended from his horizontal, horse-like, lower back. The red metal covered his thighs as well as his shins, while the silver trimming of the metal covered his knees, the backs of his legs, and the flanks of his body. Underneath his armour, particularly around his knees and ankles, he wore black fabric that helped him with the mobility needed to gallop on all six legs. Examon looked down at his feet and saw studded golden cuffs around his ankles for ornamentation, resting just above his six, grey hooves that rested firmly on the marble floor.

 

Examon gazed at the rest of the beast knight’s ornate, red digizoid armour. The majority of the red digizoid was over the centaur Digimon’s chest. It covered from his abs to his collar, and the armour had a very unique design. The breastplate was designed like beast’s head. The striking chest armour was complete with a projecting, red snout, a periwinkle-hued nose, a gold-plated bridge of the snout, and shimmering green eyes. Much like the rest of his armour, it was lined with silver trimming along the rims of the metal plates. The breastplate continued under his arms and covered his back, but his shoulders were covered by a different sort of armour. The horse knight’s shoulders were completely enveloped by a black cylindrical type of armour that looked like a large canister. They were a glistening black, lined with silver, metal rings, and seemed to have a full range of movement. Extending from the bottom of these shoulder guards were the Royal Knight’s long arms. Two belts were wrapped around each of the Digimon’s biceps covering the black fabric beneath. His forearms were covered in red digizoid vambraces, and Examon noticed that, over his left wrist, there seemed to be a metal slot to which something could be attached.

 

As the Digimon rested his black, five-fingered hands on the table, Examon glanced behind him. Resting against the wall was a massive, wooden, recurve crossbow which was longer than the Digimon’s whole arm. It was made of a reddish-brown, glossy wood of extremely high quality. There was currently no bolt in the crossbow, so the bow string rested at ease. It seemed as though it was designed to attach to the Digimon’s left arm. The bow was known as the Muspellsheimr. Resting beside it was a massive kite shield that was made of red digizoid as well. It was large and wide enough to cover most of the equine knight’s body, making it comparable to Craniamon’s Avalon shield. The kite shield had a unique shape, and the face of the shield was designed like a beast’s face. It was adorned with three sets of two, gold spikes on the sides and bottom, and there were two, white eyes lined with blue on each side of the shield. The shield was lined with a white rim, and there was a deep slot at the top of the shield which seemed to be for visibility and firing while protected behind the shield. The interior of the shield contained both a handle and a quiver for the Royal Knight’s crossbow bolts. The Digimon’s shield was called the Niflheimr.

 

This Royal Knight seemed to have many ornamental features. Around his waist was a belt which held in place a long, sky blue sash that hung from the beast-like armour of his chest. The fabric was quite long and it hung between his legs. It was designed with two, small triangles on the bottom, two, three-pronged shapes on the side, and a large, ornate curve that was in the shape of a reversed ‘S’. This light blue symbol wasn’t only on his sash, but also on his six pieces of thigh armour, his forehead, and his shield. On the horizontal part of his back were two ‘saddles’, which were sections of soft, black fabric. They were lined with orange, braided rope that attached to gold fasteners that spanned the width of his back. Examon couldn’t help but notice the majestic, silver-white tail that plumed from the horse’s backside. The thick tail flowed and puffed out magnificently before thinning into a curl at the end. It looked extremely soft and voluminous. In addition to this was a pair of large, golden ornamentation that protruded from the armour of his back. They were like giant, metal wings that were fixed in place. The gold ‘wings’ were expansive. However, the ornamental wings contained curves that led along the metal to the back edges, where they thinned into several long, curved spikes that gave him a majestic appearance.

 

The knight gazed at Examon with a warm smile. His horse-like snout rested on a black neck. It was covered with his red digizoid metal, with a strip of silver metal over his mouth region. Attached to the side of his head were circular, red fixtures in his helmet. Connected to these were two golden adornments – one on each side of his head. They were in the shape of crescents that pointed backwards, but with a slightly curved spike projecting forwards, down along his jaw, from the middle part of the crescent. Above the silver part of his helmet was a pair of eye holes. Within the holes were a set of violet-hued eyes that gazed at Examon with a welcoming smile. The violet colour of his irises matched the long, elegant mane of lavender hair that flowed from the back of his head. The thick, pale violet hair hung down the whole of his back and seemed as well-kept and voluminous as his tail.

 

Examon returned the equine Royal Knight’s smile. For some reason, the horse knight’s smile felt the most welcoming. Examon wondered if that Digimon went through the same resistance as he did or not.

 

The shock and surprise seemed to die down and the atmosphere settled. Alphamon took this opportunity to speak again. “Alright, everyone... If you’re all done marring Examon’s perception of how kind and noble the Royal Knights are,” he began, casting a particular glance to Craniamon and the brown knight, “why don’t we all introduce ourselves?” Alphamon sat back down and took a drink from the glass in front of him before looking at Examon. “You have already met Dukemon and I...”

 

Examon nodded politely. “Magnamon, UlforceVeedramon, and Craniamon as well,” he explained, looking over at the gold, cobalt, and violet Royal Knights respectively..

 

The white knight that sat at Alphamon’s right nodded to him. “Hello. My name is Omegamon,” he greeted in his soft, fused, tenor voice. “It is an honour to meet you and I look forward to seeing what you can do, Examon.”

 

The pink knight who apparently found Examon attractive spoke up. “Well, it should be interesting to have you among our ranks, Examon. My name is LordKnightmon, but I prefer to go by ‘RhodoKnightmon’, or, simply ‘Rhodo’ will do just fine. It just sounds better, don’t you think?” he replied with what seemed like a wink despite not having visible eyes. The rose knight gazed at Examon carefully, sizing him up and down. “Wow, what massive wings you carry, Examon... You know what they say about a Digimon with big wings, don’t you?”

 

“Let me just stop you right there, Rhodo,” the white armoured, muscular dragon man said with a large grin. He stood up and nodded at Examon. “Name’s Dynasmon. Pleased to meet ya. We’ll have to go down to the bar after this to celebrate.”

 

“Have a bit of respect for our image, Dynasmon. We are the Royal Knights; we are not a mongrel-filled club that goes around getting inebriated. Make a good impression,” the brown, feline-like knight said shortly, folding his arms with displeasure at the larger dragon man. “My name is Duftmon. I am the chief tactician of the Royal Knights.”

 

“’Good impression’, says the guy who just slagged off our newest member,” Dynasmon muttered with a roll of his red eyes.

 

Lastly, the red-armoured, horse knight spoke up. “And I’m Sleipmon. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Examon,” he said, a smile forming. “It will be nice not to be the newest member anymore. But don’t worry, I’ll help you get used to joining our team. I know what it’s like being the new guy.”

 

“Looks like you have a new senpai, Ex-sama,” UlforceVeedramon teased with a chuckle.

 

Examon hesitantly smiled a bit. He wasn’t entirely sure what ‘-sama’ or ‘-senpai’ meant. They were words that he hadn’t heard before. It sounded as though they were from the Eastern Digimoji language that they often used on the eastern continent of Colossus. Examon felt like he would be able to learn a lot of new things here.

 

The dragon bowed his head slightly. “It’s an honour to meet you all. It is an even greater honour to be chosen to join you as a Royal Knight. I hope that we can become good comrades in the future,” Examon said to them graciously.

 

Alphamon nodded and stood up. “You can all get acquainted later. For now, I need to speak with Examon in private. There’s a lot that we need to talk about and I want to get him settled in as soon as possible. If nobody has anything else to bring up, this meeting is adjourned.”

 

Nods came from around the round table and the Royal Knights rose to their feet, walking towards the door behind Examon. Examon tucked in his bulky wings as the Royal Knights started to pass him. Some of them didn’t look at him, while others giving him polite nods or encouraging smiles. It was certainly a mixed reception, but at least it wasn’t all bad.

 

As they walked by him, he felt Dukemon’s hand pat the spikes on his shoulder. Examon looked over and Dukemon gave him a reassuring nod and a hidden smile. Examon appreciated it.

 

A few seconds later, only he and Alphamon remained in the council room. With the other Royal Knights gone, Examon couldn’t help but glance up at the stained glass window of the Imperialdramon: Paladin Mode again. “Who is that?” he asked.

 

Alphamon looked over his shoulder and wing, looking up at it. “Imperialdramon: Paladin Mode. He was the founder of the Royal Knights.”

 

“’Was’?” Examon inquired. “Is he dead?” The dragon stalled, beginning to wonder if he should have asked that so candidly. He was afraid he just made another faux pas.

 

Alphamon chuckled at this. “No, no…” he assured him. “Imperialdramon: Paladin Mode is actually a close friend of mine and Omegamon’s. He is just… absent. It isn’t often that we see him.”

 

“Is he the leader of the Order, then?” Examon questioned, walking over to Alphamon.

 

“No. That role fell to me,” Alphamon explained, smiling a bit. “I have the title of ‘Knight of the Empty Seat’...  But with that said, I may be the ‘leader’ but I’m not a dictator. What I say doesn’t necessarily go without question. Here at the Royal Knights, we treat each other as our equals. I suppose I am more of ‘the first among equals’ than anything else. I drive the decision-making and I act as a balance between all of the different Royal Knights. However, I respect the opinions of each member. They are free to disagree with me and I certainly don’t always have my way. What is important is that we have a discussion about it and talk through our opinions.”

 

However, after a moment, Alphamon smiled sheepishly and folded his arms. “I know it must seem strange, me saying that I don’t make decisions unilaterally, after I was the one who chose you to join us without consulting the others,” he explained. “I am in charge of hiring new Royal Knights, and some of the others aren’t always receptive to expanding our little group.”

 

The black Royal Knight levelled his crimson eyes at Examon with an air of benevolent authority and wisdom. “Please don’t take some of their hostility personally. They simply want what is best for our Order A few of the knights have strong personalities along with more traditional views on what the Royal Knights should be. Sleipmon received a similar treatment, but now he’s a fully integrated member of the Royal Knights who has tight bonds with most of them. They will accept you soon enough as well...”

 

Alphamon smiled and gestured to the round table, offering Examon a seat. “I believe that part of their frustration is aimed at me for not consulting with them first,” Alphamon explained as he walked to his seat, the aforementioned ‘Empty Seat’. “I expected such reactions when I decided to make you our eleventh member. However... it’s strange… I don’t know why Ulforce seemed icy towards you; he’s one of the more progressive knights...”

 

Examon grinned slightly. “I don’t think he likes my title of ‘Dragon Emperor’... I never even liked that title. They just called me that to scare potential bandits and raiders. I suppose it added a bit of gravity to my persona.”

 

Nodding, Alphamon took his seat, the one that had its back to the stained glass window and faced the door. and looked over at him. “Well, you will be fine, Examon. Even with the likes of Duftmon and Craniamon scowling at you. What is the saying…? ‘A bit of fire tempers metal into the toughest steel’? Now… there is a lot of business we need to get to. You might want to sit down; this will take awhile.”

 

Examon took one of the seats that had been unoccupied, eager to get started. “I’m ready when you are, Alphamon...”

 

Alphamon smiled. “By the way, may I offer you some tea or coffee?”

 

-

 

The black, metal body dashed down a dark hall. The pattering of his paws against sounded out against the stone floor as he ran. His eyes and sensors were on full alert.  


A quadrupedal wolf Digimon scampered down a large corridor that was adorned with exquisite sculptures and masterly painted pictures. Black metal covered the whole of the Digimon’s body, glimmering dimly in the torchlight as he dashed down the hall. His cyborg body was filled with missile ports, and the red laser sights of his snout glowed as he searched for one Digimon in particular. His well-developed legs carried across the floor, and his bladed tail bobbed with every step. He made sure to silver, wing-like boosters on his back poised upwards so that he didn’t accidentally knock down an expensive sculpture in his haste.

  
“Where is he?” he growled under his breath while running as fast as his legs could take him.  
  
Finally, he skidded to a stop in front of a doorway and turned into a room. There, he saw the familiar body of a two-legged jackal Digimon who was covered in pale, lavender fur. He was garbed in Egyptian attire, with baggy, white pants and a long sash that hung from his bandaged waist. Loose, red and gold ornamentation hung from his wrists and neck, and over his slender biceps were golden bracelets. A pair of large, gold wings jutted from his lithe back. The Digimon turned his jackal-like head towards the shorter, black wolf. His long black hair hung down the sides of his face in two braids, and down. The top part of his face was violet in colour. He leered at the wolf Digimon with emerald eyes as the quadruped screeched to a stop.  
  
“Bro! Bro! Anubismon!” the wolf shouted, panting.  
  
The jackal Digimon in question observed him with a raised eyebrow. “BlackMetalGarurumon?” he asked, sounding as calm as ever. “What is it?”  
  
“It’s Examon!” BlackMetalGarurumon explained enthusiastically, rearing up on his hind legs for a moment to emphasize his excitement.  
  
“What now?” Anubismon asked, narrowing his green eyes at him. “Did he kill those raiders who we sent in to probe the UDC’s outskirts?”  
  
“No! Well! Yeah! Well! Sort of!” BlackMetalGarurumon tried (and failed) to explain as clearly as he could.  
  
“Slow down, brother...” Anubismon reproved calmly, growing a bit annoyed at his brother’s inability to finish a sentence.  
  
“He killed three of them and the other two were taken prisoner, but that’s only the bad news!” BlackMetalGarurumon informed him.  
  
“...So, what’s the good news? Aside from the fact that we won’t have to worry about paying those screw ups now,” Anubismon bitterly said.  
  
BlackMetalGarurumon grinned widely. “Well, y’see... When I was watching them, after the fight, this other guy came over to Examon. ...It was – you’ll never guess! – it was… - dun dun dun… - Dukemon from the Royal Knights.”  
  
“Dukemon...?” Anubismon asked.  
  
BlackMetalGarurumon nodded vigorously. “So, I watched from a distance, listening in with the long-range audio sensors in my ears, and Dukemon said that they wanted Examon to join the Royal Knights!”  
  
“Great for him... And this is good for us _how_?” the tall, dark jackal Digimon questioned.  
  
“He agreed and went with them! That means that he won’t be around to protect the United Dramonic Coalition! We’ll be able to move in like you wanted!” BlackMetalGarurumon explained.  
  
A smirk slowly appeared on Anubismon’s face, causing BlackMetalGarurumon to be just as pleased. “Good work...” he commended.  
  
Happy with himself, BlackMetalGarurumon outstretched his paw and started examining it like it was no big deal. “Yeah, well, no biggie...” he said coolly (he thought, at least). He then looked up at Anubismon quizzically. “Hey, bro, why exactly do we want to take control of the UDC again? It’s full of smelly dragons. Why do you think they’d accept canine Digimon as leaders? Especially when those Four Great Dragon guys are in charge there.”  
  
“They might not, but it won’t matter,” Anubismon explained. “The main reason that the Four Dragons banded all of those factions of dragons banded together and formed the United Dramonic Coalition was so that they could all benefit from Examon’s protection. Qinglongmon is never present in Dragon’s Peak, and the other three are always arguing. Now that Examon’s abandoned them to join the Royal Knights, that coalition will break apart easily due to in-fighting. And if we go in and attack them and take over, they’ll be too divided to resist our rule. Then, instead of Examon, they’ll be united under us, BlackMetalGarurumon.”  
  
“I don’t really get the details, but I don’t mind blowing Digimon up if that’s what you think will work best,” BlackMetalGarurumon replied, smiling gleefully at the prospect.  
  
Anubismon chuckled softly. “That’s what you’re best at. Now come on, brother. Let’s start planning our next move...”


End file.
